Sweet Aggravation
by Morpheus' Muse
Summary: A new member joins the BAU and leaves quite an impression on Morgan.  Will he rise to the occassion or will his stubborness get the better of him?  Morgan/OC
1. Chapter 1

** AN: First FanFic. Please be kind. And, unfortunately I do not own or profit in any way from Criminal Minds **

Chapter 1

Hotch was pulled out of his office by the horseplay in the bullpen. Had he been less stoic he would have rolled his eyes. As he walked up beside David Rossi he wondered what Morgan had done now.

"Do I even want to know?" asked Hotch dryly.

Rossi chuckled as he watched Morgan duck behind Prentiss with Reid's phone held firmly in his hand. The young doctor desperately bobbed from side to side, trying to get around Emily to reclaim the phone from where Morgan held it just out of reach in a game of keep-away. "Reid had a date and Morgan stole his phone and is threatening to pretend to be him and text the lovely lady quite inappropriate things."

"You realize that Sam Ryan is arriving today and I really don't want this to be the first impression we give of the BAU."

Rossi looked in surprise at Hotch. He knew the profiler was joining the team but that fact was something that they had kept from the rest of them. The BAU was a family and they didn't want them worrying needlessly about having that family broken up or worse, another spy like the one Prentiss was supposed to be when she joined the BAU. What he didn't know was that it would be today. Mentally reviewing Ryan's file, he knew the young profiler was either going to flow with the team smoothly or become almost as hated as Strauss. Rossi had questioned the decision to expand the team for that very reason.

Hotch was debating how to break up the antics when the elevator opened. A young woman stepped out, motorcycle helmet in hand, bag slung casually over her shoulder. Her long auburn hair was pulled back into a pony tail and her ID was clipped to the collar of her fitted leather jacket. The white tank top, jeans, and knee high boots made her look feminine in a strong way. Everything from her posture to her attire screamed that this was a woman who would not be a pushover. Confidently she strode out of the elevator before smirking at the antics of Morgan, Reid, and Prentiss.

The trio of troublemakers didn't even notice her until she crossed the bullpen and reached Hotch and Rossi. They stopped and watched with interest as she interacted with the leaders of the team.

"Agents Hotchner and Rossi," she said holding out her hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you. Dr. Sam Ryan."

Both agents shook her hand, noting that she looked them in the eye and her posture was one of confidence. Hotch shook his head at the three in the bullpen and motioned the other two into his office before closing the door.

"Who do you think that is?" asked Reid curiously.

"I don't know," said Emily as she took in the sight of Morgan. It wasn't often you got to see the experienced profiler's attention so caught. He had changed his posture as the woman had walked by and been noticed. Emily had seen that look before when the team had gone out for drinks and Morgan had singled out a young lady to take home for the night. "Down Tiger." Emily said with a smile. "She had an ID on, not a visitors pass. She's FBI; she's not going to be another notch in your proverbial bedpost."

Reid took advantage of Derek's momentary lapse in concentration to retrieve his phone before running to Garcia's lair to find a way to lock his co-workers out of it to prevent future mishaps. The other two settled into their desks, awaiting the opening of Hotch's office door.

"Sit." was the brisk command from Hotch. Ryan settled into a chair, placing her bag and helmet down next to her. Rossi leaned casually against the wall nearest the end of Hotch's desk waiting to see how the newest team member reacted to Hotch's cool demeanor. He had to admit, she didn't seem intimidated, sitting up straight but casually, calmly waiting for her new unit chief to say whatever he was going to say.

"The call saying you were coming in today was unexpected Agent." was Hotch's calm start to a conversation.

"I know, sir. The closing date on my house got moved up so I came to town early. The moving company doesn't arrive until tomorrow afternoon, so I have time on my hands. Coming in today let me get my new ID pass and start to get settled. I know I am not due to report for active duty until 0800 on Friday."

"We appreciate the initiative. I would like to introduce you to the team. We are on stand down and, as you witnessed, they are not otherwise occupied. We haven't yet told them that we are expanding the team, so expect them to be shocked and expect questions. And, expect them to be distrustful. Expanding the team has been troublesome in the past." Hotch grimaced as he remembered Strauss' plan to use Emily as a spy.

"Sir?" came the question from Ryan with a quirk of her eyebrow.

Rossi felt the need to step in. "The BAU team is a family. As such, we take care of each other and look out for each other. And as such, they will take time to accept you. But once they do, their loyalty is unswerving."

Sam leveled her gaze at the older man. "Yes sir." was the brisk reply.

"Let's meet the team, shall we?" said Hotch, rising.

Sam gathered her bag and helmet and followed Rossi and Hotch out into the bullpen. "Conference room in 5 minutes." Hotch announced to the room before leading the way to the conference room.

Sam settled in on the side of the round table taking the time to watch as everyone walked in. A petite blond came in composed but looking at Hotch and Rossi with a slightly raised eyebrow accepting the slight upturn at one corner of Rossi's mouth as an answer. The brunette with alabaster skin walked in confidently followed by the lanky, floppy-haired young man that they had been picking on when she arrived. Both silently sat down, trusting their leaders to inform them of the situation but taking in Sam's appearance with curiosity. A bubbly blond with glasses, bold makeup, and an outrageous colored outfit came barreling in, stopping dead on her heels when she saw the new face before composing herself and settling into a seat at the table. Finally the tall, broad, chocolate skinned man strode in with a cup of coffee. He was the only one to speak immediately.

"Alright, what's up? Why call us in here when we are on stand down and why doesn't Baby Girl seem to know what's going on. Obviously we don't have a case." Morgan said as he flopped into a chair with a deliberately careless air.

Hotch took a deep breath before starting. "I would like you to meet the newest member of this team. This is Dr. Sam Ryan. She is transferring in from the Vegas field office."

Five identical looks of disbelief turned to Sam. She wondered if they were more surprised that there was a new team member or because she had been introduced as Doctor. Did teams never change around here? Of course, Rossi had stated the team viewed themselves as a family.

Hotch continued. "Allow me to introduce you to the team. From left to right these are SSA's Morgan and Prentiss, our Technical Analyst and part-time liaison Penelope Garcia, SSA's Jareau and Dr. Reid. Team, Dr. Ryan is here to meet our needs for an expanded team. There are simply not enough bodies to go around on the cases we are called out on. Rossi, how do you feel about leaving the gang to get acquainted?"

Rossi nodded before beginning to exit the room. Pausing in the doorway with a smirk he threw a casual "Fight nice kids." over his shoulder before following Hotch.

Silence filled the room. Five pairs of eyes took in Ryan and she suddenly felt like canary surrounded by hungry alley cats. Forcing herself to maintain a relaxed pose, she waited.

Garcia was the first to break the ice. "Hi, I'm Penelope, or as they call me, the Oracle of All Things Seen and Unseen. If you need it, I can find it."

"Linux?" was Sam's easy response as she eyed the bubbly blond. Garcia had an easy air and a breezy confidence about her. She seemed like someone who wouldn't be too hard to get to know and someone who might be up for grabbing a friendly drink after a long day. She also seemed like someone who might get you into trouble, but who would be right there with you to bail you out.

"You know your open source?" replied Penelope surprised.

"A bit. I dabbled in programming. Guess I've dabbled in a lot of things." was Ryan's easy reply.

"So, what useful skills has your dabbling brought us?" was the slightly superior remark from Morgan.

Ryan took a minute to eye up the man. Definitely an Alpha Male. Confident, cocky, sure that she was here to play and not to work. And she would bet more than she won the last time she hit the casinos in Vegas that he had already imagined her naked.

"My skill set is well rounded. I can shoot a silver dollar at thousand yards with my Barrett or I can shoot a quarter at a hundred with my Glock. I hold qualification as an FBI marksman. I graduated high school at fifteen and had my first degree at eighteen. I hold bachelor's degrees in psychology, criminology, and mechanical engineering. My PhD is in criminology and I am working on one in engineering. I can hack but I'm not elite. Annapolis wanted me and as much as I wanted to fly, the idea of never being able to fly a combat mission just because I don't carry a Y chromosome didn't appeal to me. Not to mention, I would have had to enlist as a plebe after already having my first degree and by then I was on my way to doing things differently."

JJ smiled, impressed at the calm manner that the woman had taken on Morgan's questions. "Wow, Reid, she's almost a female you."

Dr. Reid looked confused. "I don't see it. Obviously Dr. Ryan is intelligent but she is blatantly better looking than me and seems adept at the more physical skill set required by the FBI that I have struggled with."

"Down genius." was Emily's reply with an eye roll. "She just meant that she was really smart like you."

"Just how smart?" was the biting question from Morgan. "After all, Pretty Boy here is a certified genius."

Sam calmly faced the man across the table. "My IQ is 145 if that's what you are asking, which puts me at genius level. However, I get the impression that Dr. Reid here tests at Einstein levels and was probably an actual child prodigy."

Reid smiled. "You are right. My eidetic memory helps quite a bit but my IQ is 187. Which does make me smarter than you, technically, however I find I struggle with social norms and morays which you seem not to. You don't fit the classic genius mold at all. You don't dress in a typical geek fashion and you almost seem to be compensating for your femininity by wearing masculine clothing. And, if your helmet is an indication, you drive a motorcycle…."

JJ cut Reid off. "No inter-team profiling, you know that Spencer." she said sternly. JJ stood up and walked around the table before stopping next to the newest agent and extending her hand. "Welcome to the BAU." she said shaking Sam's hand. "Let's go find you a desk and get you settled."

Sam stood and followed the petite woman out of the conference room and into the bull pen. This was going to be interesting.

**AN: Thank you to Greyhound girl for both introducing me to FanFiction and being the best beta ever! **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As soon as Sam and JJ left the other four looked at each other. Penelope could hardly contain herself. "Oh my chocolate gumdrop, she is perfect for you." the technical analyst gushed.

"Baby Girl, what do you mean perfect for me?" replied Morgan in a huff.

Emily felt the need to pipe up. "Come on Morgan, you were all but drooling over her when she walked in. Which is interesting because the women you typically go for have a larger bra size than IQ and are just dying to fall into your bed as soon as you bat your big brown eyes at them. She, on the other hand, would challenge you. But now that you know she's gonna be on the team and thus untouchable you are acting all grumpy. Poor Agent Morgan, victim of unrequited lust." Emily concluded snickering alongside Garcia while Reid tried to cover his giggles with a manly cough.

"Face it my Chocolate Adonis, you like her. You are attracted to her. This is perfectly normal. You're hot, she's hot, ohh, think of the cute little nieces and nephews you could give me! Little babies in biker jackets with little t-shirts that say "I Crawl the Line" or "Bad to the Bottle." Swoon! But, thanks to Rossi's younger days you two are just gonna have to keep it in your pants. I never thought I would see the day that you would be denied. Now, if we are done picking on Morgan I am going to try and come up with something to convince JJ that Henry needs a little sister or brother because I _NEED_ another niece or nephew to spoil and nobody else is in any position to give me one." And with that Penelope gathered her things and whirled out of the room like a rainbow infused cyclone, bringing to Derek's mind what it must be like to watch the Wizard of Oz after dropping acid.

Derek shook his head before standing and heading out into the bull pen. He watched from the railing as JJ got Ryan settled at an open desk. Ryan pulled a few cursory things out of her bag before turning to speak with JJ again.

Ryan noticed Agent Morgan approaching. She was determined not to let him rattle her so she continued on with her conversation with Agent Jareau. "I was planning on hitting gym here today."

"Tell me Agent Ryan, when was the last time you sparred?" was the question from Agent Morgan interrupting the ongoing conversation.

"It's been a few weeks Agent Morgan." was the simple response as she turned to look at him, lips set in a line and eyes hard. She was sure the man didn't have a problem with women because he didn't act this way to Agents Jareau or Prentiss or even their tech analyst. What the hell was his problem with her?

Hotch and Rossi walked out of Hotch's office as they saw the ongoing confrontation between the agents. They were both almost bristling reminding Hotch of two alley cats sizing each other up before a fight. Hotch decided it was better for Ryan to show rather than tell of her skills as it would do a better job of convincing Morgan that way. "Agents, we will all be heading to the gym. I think it is a good time to brush up on our hand-to-hand skills. Meet in the gym outside of the locker rooms in fifteen minutes."

Everyone gathered their things quietly, locking sidearms in desk drawers before trickling downstairs. Hotch turned to Rossi. "You might want to let Garcia know about this. I am going to put Ryan against Morgan and see if she is as good as her jacket says she is. And, I don't plan on telling him what he is up against. If I know our tech analyst, she won't want to miss this."

Rossi made a detour to Garcia's lair to announce their leader's intentions before following the team to the locker rooms. Even with his late arrival he was ready before Reid. "Dragging your feet Reid? You know it won't get you out of it."

Reid sighed. "I know that, but you know I still struggle with some of the physical aspects of being an agent."

Rossi gave an encouraging pat on Reid's shoulder. "Put it this way kid, at least you won't be the only one being put through their paces out there."

Reid cocked his head at Rossi's cryptic remark. What did the older agent know that he didn't?

Hotch called the team together as Reid and Rossi exited. Rossi noticed that Ryan was stretching. 'Smart girl' he thought to himself. 'She can sense something is up.'

"We all know that sometimes we have to take down a suspect with physical force rather than being able to talk them down. Morgan, you are usually the first one through the door on this team. Ryan, according to your last supervisor and your jacket that was your role on your last team. You two will spar, all out, no holds barred. I want to see what Agent Ryan's skills are and I want to see if Morgan is losing his edge by training cadets rather than going against people of his skill level."

Morgan's eyebrows shot up. Hotch had just challenged him without challenging him. And, he asked him to go all out on a woman that he estimated was no more than five and a half feet tall and he'd ballpark at one forty five max and that was if she was soaking wet.

Ryan was curious. This wasn't the welcome she expected. The people she usually sparred with at least had some knowledge of her skill level, unless it was a new agent that needed knocked down a peg. In that case, she had always taken great delight in wiping the mats with them before informing them of her years of training. It just didn't sit right with her that she was being unleashed on a new team member who didn't have that knowledge. "Sir, what are the rules?" she asked curiously, getting the feeling that her new Unit Chief had a point to make and this was how he was choosing to do it.

"Fifteen minutes. Two taps to get out of a hold but then you go right back to it. Any surface and any item of the room is fair game with the exception of the people in it."

Both Morgan and Ryan were surprised by this. It was going to be a long fifteen minutes.

"Agent Hotchner, shouldn't Agent Morgan…" she started before being cut off by Hotch.

"Both of you agents have all of the working knowledge you need for this confrontation. An Unsub isn't going to stop to chat before he attacks you. Now, get into position."

Obeying their Unit Chief Morgan and Ryan squared up across the circle on the mat from each other, both beginning to feel the tingles of adrenaline shoot through their systems. "Fifteen minutes Agents, no rests. And I expect to see your best efforts." ordered Hotch. "Go."

Morgan and Ryan squared off before he decided to be the first to move in. He went to flip her and go for the easy pin. She allowed him to grip her wrist before reversing on him, rolling over his shoulders and using the momentum to continue the motion once she regained her feet so that he was the one that was flipped. Quickly she hooked her leg around his and effectively pinned him to the mat, controlling both his right leg and having his left arm twisted firmly behind his back. Morgan struggled for a second before deciding to tap out. Ryan let him up and both regained their feet, squaring off again.

Morgan waited for her to make the first move this time. He was surprised that she went on the attack rather than for the pin and found himself fending off her blows before falling for her feint and taking a very square kick to the ribs for missing it. 'Damn,' he thought. 'That feels like it's gonna leave a bruise. All right, time to step it up.'

Ryan felt it when the rhythm of their sparring changed. She knew Morgan was drawing her in, suspected from his first moves that he was trained in some form of martial arts that concentrated on throws and pins but that he had enough practical experience to be able to hold his own in a standing fist fight. She should have known it was coming but she missed her chance to deflect the powerful swing she saw heading her way. Her only choice was to duck. Bending quickly backwards she missed the blow and surprised Morgan when she caught him with her legs, using the momentum to pull them both to the ground. He was quicker this time and reversed out of her pin feeling her struggle beneath him for a moment before she decided that it was better to tap out and take him on again.

Both agents rolled to their feet. Sam decided that it was on. She was going to prove once and for all to this man that she could hold her own against anyone no matter if they were physically bigger or stronger. She knew he was used to being the top dog around here and she was fine with that. But she wanted him to know that while he could run at the front of the pack she would be running right next to him.

The team watched in fascination. Ryan was quick and fierce; a flurry of punches and kicks, more of which were connecting than Morgan was used to. That being said, she took a few blows of her own, blows that sounded like solid hits without stopping. The agents would occasionally grapple but neither managed to get another pin. Hotch looked at his watch. They had three minutes left. He absentmindedly wondered how long they could go before they dropped if he didn't call time.

Sam knew she was getting tired and she saw the same in her opponent. She had been on the defense and Morgan had worked her back almost to the pull out bleachers that lined the wall. 'Time to pull out all the stops' she thought. Whirling she feinted, causing Morgan to lunge to his left. She continued the spin until she faced the closed bleachers before pulling herself up them and, pulling her feet under her, using them as a springboard to push back and land her hands on Morgan's shoulders. She continued to vault herself over Morgan's head to land behind him, using the momentum to bring him down with her.

Both agents grappled on the floor, deadlocked. Morgan was amazed by the all or nothing move she had pulled. If he hadn't been in just the right spot she would have had nothing to vault off of. And, she wasn't giving up. If she was half as tired as he was, she should be tapping out. He struggled to gain leverage. He was stronger but she had better positioning. He was a heartbeat away from giving in when he heard "Time."

Instantly both agents let go; relieved that it was over. They rolled so they were laying on their backs, panting heavily as the team walked up to them. Hotch reached out a hand to pull Ryan up while Rossi did the same for Morgan. Both agents allowed themselves to be pulled to their feet before putting their hands on their knees, trying to catch their breaths and assess the damage that had been done. "I don't want anybody to doubt their fellow agent's effectiveness in the field. Each of you is fully capable of taking care of yourselves. Now to finish introducing Agent Ryan. She is a fully qualified field agent who also holds FBI Marksman qualifications. She holds a black belt in Ninjitsu and has also benefitted from training in military special forces hand-to-hand techniques. As such, she was typically the first one to enter a dangerous situation and has worked on multiple situations where forceful entry was required. She holds multiple undergraduate degrees as well as a PhD in Criminology and has a unique ability to read people, especially when under duress. In fact, her last supervisor called her ability to know how to interact with suspects, especially in the interrogation room, uncannily intuitive. I expect you all to welcome her to this team and don't want any more posturing for power and position, especially since she demonstrated her abilities. Rossi, take over for me, the rest of you, I expect a thorough workout. This includes you Dave. Morgan, Ryan, I expect you to meet me outside of the locker rooms in fifteen minutes. We are heading to the firing range." With that, Hotch turned on his heel and strode into the locker rooms. Ryan and Morgan shot each other knowing looks. The range was going to be a bitch with as tired as they both were.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN - Still don't own or profit from Criminal Minds. But I can dream.**

Chapter 3

Both agents were on time to meet Hotch. They walked silently up to the bullpen where sidearms were retrieved and holstered. They continued out to the firing range without saying a word.

Arriving they stopped to obtain targets, ear protection, and eye protection. Hotch appreciated that they were the only agents using it at that time of the day. He set up the first target wordlessly before calling the range hot and taking aim. Firing five rounds he landed all in the five ring, although the grouping was not quite as tight as he would have liked. He retracted the target and pulled it before setting up the next one. "Morgan, you're up." was all he said.

Morgan stepped up to the firing line. He took a minute to take a deep breath before firing five rounds of his own. He retracted the target and was pleased at the grouping. All shots were in the five ring and they were no farther apart than Hotch's despite how tired he was. He changed the target and stepped back, making room for Agent Ryan.

Sam stepped up to the line. She was tired and she knew it, but even so, she was strangely at peace. Funny that she always felt that way with a gun in her hand. It had been that way from the first shot she took as a child. It felt natural, it felt right. Her weapon became an extension of her. Rather than something that frightened her and that she had to get used to, she found it natural and comforting to handle a gun. Even the smell of gunpowder and the snap of the recoil had never bothered her. She occasionally wondered if she should be worried at how well she got along with firearms.

She took a single deep breath, raising her weapon and taking aim. Five shots in rapid succession followed. Sight, squeeze the trigger, follow through, feel the recoil, repeat. Time slowed for Sam like it always did as she smoothly went through the movements. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast had been drilled into her head repeatedly by her Uncle Chuck and he had trained her to the point that the movements were intuitive. Once five shots were off she took a deep breath and time seemed to resume its normal pace. She flipped the switch to draw the target in and wordlessly pulled it down to hand it to her unit chief.

Morgan and Hotch both looked at the target. Five shots were in the five ring so close together that the holes overlapped each other and you could hide the damage she had done by laying a quarter on top of the target. Hotch was one of the best shots in the entire BAU and he had taken his shots rested. Ryan had just been put through her paces by Morgan and by all rights her arms should be tired, muscles fatigued and unsteady. Instead, she fired off shots that rivaled any in the FBI.

"Now that we've seen what you can do at close range, what can you do at a distance?" was Hotch's question.

"If I had my rifles I would show you. Unfortunately, they are locked in my gun safe and won't arrive until tomorrow. Even then, I need to replace the firing pins before they will do me any good."

"Why pull the firing pins?" was Morgan's question.

"I don't like it when my weapons are out of my control. Just in case that gun safe doesn't make it here, I don't want just anyone to be able to use those weapons. The Remington would be bad enough if it got out in public, but my Barrett is not something just anyone should fire."

"You are comfortable with both weapons?" asked Hotch quickly.

"Yes sir. My Remington is a 700P that is chambered to hold the .300 Remington Ultra Mag cartridge. With that chamber configuration I'm comfortable out to nine hundred yards with it. Any longer than that or conditions where the flight pattern isn't level I would prefer to use my Barrett 82A. The longest shot I've taken with repeated success in target practice is fifteen hundred yards."

Morgan was knocked back on his proverbial heels. This woman knew her firearms. He had to know just how and why this deadly little package came about. "How is it you know so damn much about guns?"

Ryan turned to look at Agent Morgan. "My dad never had a problem with me handling firearms and my grandpa was the first one to teach me. When it became obvious that I was good with them my Godfather took over training me since he was a sniper. As a kid I used to go into competitions and win at all ranges. As an adult I found a job where I could use that skill."

Morgan was floored. "Just how old were you when you took your first shot?"

"Ten. Grandpa started me out with a Rugar 10-22 and I liked it. I had a set of spinner targets and I had a paper route so I could afford ammunition. After that they found me a little 9mm Smith and Wesson and taught me to handle a handgun. They waited until I was big enough to handle the recoil of a larger caliber rifle before my Godfather took me to a known distance range for the first time. After that, I was hooked. Not only could I do the math in my head for the long shots, but I enjoyed the challenge. There are so many factors to take into account; temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, hell even the Coriolis Effect has to be accounted for. My abilities are put to the test, both mentally and physically and I enjoy it."

"Damn girl. What the hell are you doing in the FBI? Most snipers here work at under 100 yards." was Morgan's quick response.

"Simple. The military would have made me start at ground zero despite already having a degree and wouldn't let me see combat because I'm a woman. The Secret Service is too boring. That left the FBI."

Hotch chuckled. He knew he was correct for bringing Sam on board the team. Now he just had to let her settle and find her place on the team.

"Agents, I think that that is enough for today. Ryan, I want to see what you can do at a distance on Friday. I expect you at eight am with the rest of the team. Depending on if we catch a case or not will determine what time we go the range but I want you to be prepared that we will end up there. Now go home, both of you. You worked hard enough to deserve the rest of the day off."

Morgan and Ryan both nodded to Hotch before beginning the walk back to the bullpen to collect their things. Morgan couldn't stop thinking as he walked. Where the hell did this little spitfire come from? And when did she gain this skill set? How old was she anyway? Why did she want to leave Vegas? Deciding that nothing had ever been gained without risk he took his shot. "So, Ryan, how old are you anyway?"

Sam shot a look at Morgan out of the corner of her eye. "I just held my own and now you are wondering if you got your ass handed to you by a teenager?" was her reply.

Morgan took a minute. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you are a little defensive. I wasn't exactly the most welcoming today. I just worry. We put our lives in each other's hands daily. We need to trust and trust with every fiber of our being that whoever has our back actually has our back. It's the only way to get through the job."

Sam thought about it for a minute. "You're right. The Vegas field office was bad enough. The BAU deals with the worst the human race has to offer. No wonder Rossi told me that you guys were a family and warned me that you would take time to accept me."

"We are." replied Morgan. "We spend more time with each other than with our biological families. We laugh together and we cry together. We are the only ones in our lives who understand the horrible things we see on this job every day. I don't know what we would do without each other."

Sam smiled. "Does that mean I'm the new baby of this eclectic little family?"

Morgan returned the smile with his 1000 watt grin. "Depends if your younger than Pretty Boy or not."

Sam laughed. "I'm twenty-eight."

"Damn girl! Deadly and still a baby… God help the men you date cause you only look sweet and innocent." was the teasing reply.

"Who says I date?" was Sam's quiet reply.

"Don't be too hard on yourself if you don't get out there much. None of us do. Well, some of us do, just never with the same person twice." was Morgan's quick reply.

"What about you? The way you sound you must be ancient." teased Sam.

"Hey, hey, hey, I held my own today and then some. I'm in better shape than when I was your age, not to mention a hell of a lot smarter."

"Yes oh veritable ancient one." was tossed over Sam's shoulder.

Their banter had carried them all the way to the bullpen and they gathered their things and headed out. Morgan noticed her helmet and curiosity got the best of him on the elevator ride down to the parking garage. "So, you ride?"

Sam shot a look over at Morgan. Most men decided to make some inappropriate comment about her straddling her bike at this point in time. She was waiting to see if her first impression of him would follow through. "Yeah, I do."

"Not what I expect from a woman."

"What's the matter Agent Morgan? Don't think a woman can handle that kind of power?" she shot back.

Morgan was surprised at how she was suddenly becoming hostile again. "No, just not what the women I am used to hanging around with are into. Most are too worried about messing up their hair to ride."

"Lucky for you, I'm not that kind of girl." was Sam's quick reply. Morgan followed her up to her bike and watched her take her seat. Straddling the bike she pulled her helmet on and snapped the chin strap. She pulled her backpack on before flipping the helmet visor down. She was surprised that the other agent was just standing there, watching her, taking in both her and the bike she chose to ride. Feeling the need to leave the scrutiny of his gaze, she smoothly slid the kickstand up, turned the key, and kick started the bike before roaring off. She almost chastised herself for gunning the bike on her way out until she looked in her mirror and saw that Morgan's gaze followed her as left the garage.

Morgan was mesmerized. Ryan was not his usual cup of tea. She had damn near kicked his ass in hand-to-hand and then proceeded to kick his ass at the firing range. By all rights she should be so exhausted that she should want to curl up in a little ball and sleep. Instead she handled the powerful machine like a natural. Morgan shook his head feeling the need for clarity. Usually he would go for a run but he usually didn't put himself through one with the day he just had. If he went for a run now his muscles would be screaming tomorrow. Sliding into his SUV, he decided that a drink was in order. Hell, if he stayed for two he could probably talk Rossi into having one with him.

Rossi got the text when he pulled his phone out of his gym locker. Morgan was down the road at O'Malley's and wanted to know if he wanted a drink. Feeling his age and the after effects of JJ sending him flying, he texted back an affirmative reply before changing, closing up his office and heading out. Rossi thought it was strange that the younger agent had only asked him to come out. Usually the team went out as a group or Morgan and Penelope cozied up together. Following his own curiosity he arrived at the bar.

Morgan was sitting at the corner of the bar itself. Rossi took in the small groups of women gesturing towards his teammate and whispering. That boy sure knew how to draw a crowd no matter where he went and he didn't even have to lift a finger. Not that Dave's track record was that bad; he even had the three ex-wives to prove it. But there was something about Morgan. Sitting down next to the man he ordered a scotch, neat. After taking his first appreciative sip, he decided to start the conversation. "What's on your mind Morgan?"

Morgan smirked. Looking to his side at the sly older man, he started. "You knew that Ryan was joining the team before today and you knew what a deadly little package she was, so why did you and Hotch hold out on us?"

Rossi took another sip of scotch. "Maybe we wanted to let all of you form your own opinions." was all the older man offered in response.

Morgan mulled it over. True, there would have been speculation if they had known about Ryan before she arrived, but why expand the team now? "All right Rossi, I'll give you that one, but why now? We could have used extra hands for forever. Why add someone right now? Is Strauss putting pressure on the unit? You know we have the highest solve rate of any of the BAU teams."

"Morgan, Morgan, calm down. We have been talking about expanding the team for a while. When we saw that Dr. Ryan was interested we decided that now was the time. She would be an asset on whichever team the Bureau decided to assign her but she was interested in us and we didn't want to pass her up."

Morgan thought about it for a few minutes. "Did you know Hotch was planning on having her kick my ass?"

Rossi chuckled. "Only for about 15 minutes before it happened. Hotch had me alert Garcia so expect her to have that little contest burned to DVD by now. Deadly little thing, isn't she?"

Morgan raised a hand to motion for another drink feeling the burn of his muscles as he did. It was a good burn, proof of a good day. He had worked hard but held his own. He had nothing to be ashamed of. But he wondered how the rest of the team had fared. "Hey Dave, how did the rest of the team do? You guys didn't pick on Reid too bad, did you?"

"Emily may have sent him to the mats a few times but other than that, not too bad. JJ and Emily are a sight to behold. Have you ever noticed how badly they both want to win? God, if we could get them in bikinis and get them to wrestle in Jell-O we could sell the DVD's for twenty bucks apiece and become instant millionaires." Rossi said with a wistful appreciation in his voice.

"Hey Rossi," Morgan interjected "you better not let the girls hear you say that or you won't be alive long enough to find wife number four."

Dave smiled. "Oh, I know. But a man's allowed to dream. Besides, JJ may or may not have sent me flying already today and that was when she was calm. I don't even want to think about facing her when she is pissed. And Prentiss with her Interpol experience, brrrr." a small shudder passed through Rossi. "That is definitely a woman I don't want to antagonize."

Morgan just laughed. "Smart man."

The men sat in companionable silence as they finished their drinks. "See you tomorrow." was all Morgan offered before throwing down a few bills and pulling on his leather jacket.

Rossi looked over Morgan's shoulder at the disappointed groups of women around the room that had been eyeing his teammate. "Domani il mio amico." Rossi replied over the rim of his scotch as Morgan walked out of the bar.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN – Not sure if my network crashing today while I was trying to re-upload this chapter did it or what, but the story completely disappeared. I hope this fixes the problem and for the people who were gracious enough to Alert/Favorite this story I hope you find me again.

Thank you so much to Greyhoundgirl. Not only did you introduce me to Fan Fiction but you are proving to be a truly awesome beta! There is no way I would be posting here without you.

Unfortunately I don't own any part of Criminal Minds. I wish I did, but I don't. ~MM **

Chapter 4

Friday morning came almost too early for Sam. She took her SUV this time as she wanted to drop a go bag under her desk and she needed the built in lockbox to safely store her rifles. She stopped for coffee on the way, and feeling fortified by the caffeine stepped off the elevator and into the BAU bullpen before crossing to her desk.

"Ohh, coffee." was Dr. Reid's comment as she walked by.

"Yeah, I guess I'm a little bit of an addict." she replied with a grin. "I didn't know how you took yours otherwise I would have grabbed you one."

"That's no problem; we do have a coffee pot here. Hey, did you know that coffee is the second most traded commodity on earth after only crude oil and that in 1675 King Charles II of England banned coffee houses because he was convinced that the people meeting there were conspiring against him."

JJ, Emily, and Morgan had gathered around her by then. Emily was the first to cut into the conversation and slow Reid's coffee fueled coffee rant. "Reid, don't scare her off. Remember, it's her first day."

Morgan ruffled the kid's hair before adding "Yeah Pretty Boy, we know you know everything about everything, you don't have to prove it to the new kid right this second."

The group chuckled while Reid looked slightly chagrinned.

Hotch walked into the bullpen then. "Good Morning Agent Ryan. At the moment we don't have an active case so I am going to have you work with Agent Prentiss on some of our consults. We give consults to police departments all over the nation and sometimes other countries in between cases. We typically divide them based on everybody's areas of expertise. You two can set up in the conference room and work through some of the backlog while you get your feet under you. Then this afternoon we can head to the distance range. I assume you came prepared."

"Yes sir, I did." was the brisk answer from Ryan while a smile hovered around the corners of her lips. She had replaced the firing pins on her weapons last night and everything was in full working order. She looked forward to proving her expertise.

Ryan and Prentiss settled into the conference room and began to work through the stack of case files. Sam found it was easy to talk to the woman, ask her advice, and use her as a sounding board. Lunch came before she knew it. She and Emily turned in files and Sam was settling a few things at her desk when she heard the elevator doors open. "Hello Beautiful." was called out across the bullpen.

Sam's head snapped up. She wanted to run to the man but settled for walking briskly to him and allowing him to wrap her in a tight hug. "Hey stranger, I never thought you'd turn up here." was her teasing greeting.

Pulling back to look at the woman in his arms the man smiled showing twin dimples. "What's the matter? You move back to Virginia and you doubt I will come see you? It's been too long since we both lived near the same city."

The usual break room banter was going on as the team ate their lunches. Garcia was teasing Morgan when she stood up to get a refill on her coffee and stopped midsentence.

"Baby Girl, cat got your tongue?" was Morgan's attempt to draw her attention back as she moved to the break room doorway.

"Hey, Pen, what's going on?" came from JJ, suddenly worried that her usually vivacious friend had gone silent.

Emily quickly stood up and walked up to Penelope effectively blocking the other half of the doorway. "You guys gotta see this."

Rossi, JJ, and Reid moved to the window. Morgan walked up behind the girls and bristled at what he saw. A man who looked like he had just stepped out of GQ was walking Sam back to her desk. He had an arm around her waist and when Sam answered his questions she practically beamed up at him. Reaching her desk he casually leaned against it before pulling a wrapped present out of his backpack with a flourish and presenting it to the laughing Agent.

Sam had forgotten how easy it was to laugh around Eric. Her friend had a way of bringing out the best in any situation and she used to tease him mercilessly about being a little ray of sunshine. She wasn't surprised when she was presented with the brightly wrapped package. "What is this?" she asked with curiosity.

"It's a little welcome home present, or should I say a make this place feel like home present. Now open it, the suspense is killing me." he cajoled her.

Sam slid off the bow and slid her fingernail under the edges of the tape neatly taking off the paper. Eric rolled his eyes. "Seriously, I could recite the Gettysburg Address in the time it takes you to unwrap that Ms. Meticulous. Now, just give into normal human impulses and tear into it! Go wild for once in your life!"

Sam stuck her tongue out at him before doing as he asked.

"Careful who you do that around girl, some would consider that an open invitation for all kinds of things." he teased wiggling his eyebrows lasciviously.

"Eric!" she admonished him. "I'm at work." A thought crossed her mind. "Whatever is in this box isn't going to get me reprimanded, is it?" she asked with a hint of panic.

"Darling, you should know me better than that. Those kinds of presents get delivered to your home address in plain brown packages. This is totally G rated, just a little office warming gift. Now hurry up and open it, I'm dying to see your expression!"

Sam chuckled before opening the box. A smile lit up her face as she pulled out a coffee mug with Eeyore on the front. "How did you find a replacement?"

Eric laughed. "Darling, I am a shopping god remember. I can find anything given enough time and incentive. And you happy is my incentive."

Hugging her best friend tightly she set the mug on her desk. "Now this place almost feels like home."

Eric sighed. "I still can't believe your last one 'accidentally' got knocked off your desk right after you announced your plans to transfer to your old partner. That man was a snake in the grass and I am so glad you managed to get away from him sweetness."

Sam noticed the team leaving the break room and walking up behind Eric so she decided to introduce them. "Guys, this is my good friend Eric Abrams. Eric, this is my new team, Agents Prentiss, Rossi, Reid, Jareau, Morgan and our very own Mr. Wizard Penelope Garcia."

Eric shook hands with the team noticing that the women were eyeing him for different reasons than the men. The oldest and youngest men were both curious. The dark skinned agent that she had introduced as Morgan shook his hand a little too tightly and stared a little too hard in his eyes. Eric almost drooled. 'If only.' he thought to himself. Unfortunately for him, the man gave off a very strong vibe that was not what Eric was hoping for.

"Well Beautiful, I have to be off. You should give me a call; I'll make you dinner sometime."

Wrapping her arms again around Eric and hugging him Sam replied "Absolutely. And thank you for the office warming gift. It was very sweet."

Arm and arm they walked to the elevator before Eric leaned in and brushed a kiss to her cheek and whispered "Just to give them something to talk about. Goodbye Darling, I'll see you soon."

Sam watched Eric step into the elevator and the doors close as she fingered her cheek. Her best friend was affectionate; she had known him for far too long for that to be a surprise. What was a surprise was the fact that he had said he wanted to give them something to talk about. Turning back to the bullpen she saw just who Eric meant.

Garcia was the first to speak. "Ohhh, who is that little vision that was just here? He is almost cute enough to eat!"

"My only question is does he have brother?" chimed in Emily.

Rossi had seen the set of Morgan's chin and the appraising stare he had given the other man and decided to antagonize the younger man. "You know, he looks familiar. And he has model good looks. Has he done anything we would know?"

Sam smiled. "Actually, he did model his way through culinary school. I'm still amazed he has that eight pack with the way he can cook."

JJ chimed in. "Eight pack abs? Yummy. And, just what did we see him drop off for you in that shiny package?"

Sam picked up her mug. "He replaced my coffee mug. My last one got mysteriously broken by my ex-partner after I announced my transfer."

Reid chuckled. "I never pictured you for a cartoon fan Agent Ryan."

Sam shot him a look. "Don't knock Eeyore Doctor Reid. He is the original adorable pessimist and I love him. Well, not have my entire house full of Eeyore kitsch and have a tattoo of him covering half my body love him, but I have a certain soft spot for a slightly depressed, tail losing donkey with a weakness for thistles.

"So," Morgan shot out "you gonna take GQ up there on his offer for dinner?"

Sam just shrugged. "Probably."

Derek was irrationally upset that this man was going to cook Sam dinner. He could see them laughing together over a glass of wine, chopping and stirring and mixing and feeding each other by hand. "You're pretty casual about your date." he bit out.

Sam laughed lightly. "It's not a date. Eric will just come over to my place, make me dinner, and probably end up pouring me into the tub to soak while we work our way through a bottle of wine and a long conversation."

The idea of Sam in a bathtub with another man trading sips of wine and then kisses and then….Derek forced his thoughts to stop. He just wouldn't put himself through this. "Well Agent Ryan, have fun with your model on your date." he spit out before turning to walk away.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What is your problem Morgan?"

Derek turned to face her before shrugging his shoulders in defeat. "Nothing. You have the right to have a relationship with whomever you choose." he mumbled as he stared at the floor.

"Relationship? Morgan, not that it's any of your business but Eric is my best friend. He has been since I was sixteen."

Garcia chimed in "You know, they say the best relationships are ones based on friendship."

Sam smiled. "There's just one problem with that though Garcia. I'm just not Eric's type."

Morgan was furious. How was Sam not every man's type? She was stunning but she was more than that. She was smart and deadly and stubborn and she made his head spin when she was around. "Would you stop selling yourself short?" was his impatient demand. "Just what could you be missing that would keep that man from drooling all over you?"

"A penis, Morgan. I'm missing a penis." was her curt reply.

Morgan took a minute to process that statement as the rest of the group was knocked as speechless as he was. "What?" was all he could manage to get out.

"Eric, my best friend, my confidant, the brother I never had, the man who I go to for relationship advice is gay. He's gay Morgan. I lack the external plumbing for him to be attracted to me. I carry the wrong chromosomes."

"But, you said you take a bath together?" Morgan continued.

"Why am I explaining my private life to you? I said he draws me a bath, pours me into it and then we share a bottle of wine. I'm in the tub with bubbles up to my neck. He sits outside the tub and leans back against it and we talk and laugh and drink. And, even if he were to catch a glimpse of something between the bubbles, HE'S GAY!"

"How do you know he's really gay and not faking it just to be close to you?" challenged Morgan. "You know, some men can be sneaky that way"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Other than the fact that he's been my best friend for twelve years Morgan and we have eaten our way through multiple pints of Ben and Jerry's together over his breakups with men of all shapes and sizes? Let's start with that package that he gave me. First of all, no straight man can shop online like he can and find an exact replacement for the coffee mug I lost. Second of all, no straight man would have cared enough to do it. And finally, did you see how it was wrapped? It was pristine, it was shiny, it was elegant. In my experience if you get a wrapped present from a straight man, it is gonna look like a car ran over it. It just isn't in a heterosexual man's DNA to primp anything like that." she finished feeling absolutely exasperated.

Hotch chose that moment to walk into the bull pen. He had heard the confrontation from his office and had to smile. He never thought he would see the day that a woman had Derek Morgan so off balance. He just hoped that it didn't disrupt the team's ability to work together. "Agent Ryan, are you ready to go to the distance range?" he inquired.

"Yes sir." was her brisk reply. "I just need to pick up my weapons out of the lock box in my car on my way out."

"Let's go then."

Grabbing her keys she quickly followed her unit chief to the elevators. Morgan just as quickly grabbed a file and headed to Garcia's lair to use his Baby Girl as a sounding board. The rest of the team kept their thoughts to themselves as they returned to work but they all couldn't help but think that things around the BAU were about to get interesting.

**AN – to those who have clicked that favorites button or that follow button thank you. I am humbled that anyone would care enough about my little story to wonder what comes next. ~ MM **


	5. Chapter 5

**AN - Don't own, don't profit. It belongs to CBS. Still a little sad about that fact.**

Chapter 5

Saturday morning was beautiful. Sam had woken up early and was nursing her first cup of coffee while she tried to get up the ambition to start her day. As she began to go over things she was surprised that she had forgotten to take the mail in when she had gotten home from work the previous day. Peaking out the her front window at the neighborhood she decided that everything was quiet and reasoned it wouldn't hurt to pop out in her PJ's.

Sam hurried down her front walk. There was still dew clinging to the blades of grass and the concrete was cool under her bare feet. She reached the mailbox and pulled it open, grasping the small pile of mail and beginning to leaf through it as she shifted her weight from cool bare foot to cool bare foot.

"Morning Agent Ryan." came from behind her. Whirling, Sam was startled to see Agent Morgan running towards her with a Belgian Malinois at his side.

"Oh God, Morgan, you scared me." was Sam's reply to his greeting as she fought off panic. Why didn't she wait until she was dressed to grab the mail? Now here she was in her pajamas feeling extremely exposed and trying not to stare at the man in front of her. She had felt his muscles while they spared, had been pressed against them repeatedly in fact. So why was looking at him without a shirt and in low slung running shorts causing her to be so nervous? Trying to overcome the tension she was feeling she nodded towards the dog at Morgan's side and asked "Who's this?"

"Hmmm?" was Morgan's reply as he watched her extend a hand to his dog and, after letting Clooney sniff her, she knelt down and began to rub his ears. It took him a moment to figure out what she was asking. "Oh, this is Clooney."

Morgan watched her interaction with his dog appreciatively. Most people were afraid of the shepherd on sight. Ryan wasn't. She judged the dog on its own merit and based on his behavior. Morgan continued his perusal of his newest coworker as she became acquainted with his dog. Her hair was down and it flowed in loose waves down her back still looking slightly mussed from sleep. She was in a thin tank top that fit her like a second skin and short sleeping shorts that didn't even reach mid-thigh. He could follow dainty feet with painted toenails to slim ankles and all the way up creamy smooth legs. She had pulled an old, worn flannel shirt over her top but until he had called to her it had been hanging loosely, almost falling off of her. Now she held the edges together in front of her like a shield, clutching it together with the hand that held her mail while she socialized with his dog. She was relaxed and at ease before he spoke but now she was wound fairly tight, he presumed with embarrassment at being caught so undressed.

"I didn't know you ran." came from the woman before him.

Morgan pulled his thoughts off of her attire and back to the conversation they were trying to have. "Yeah, it keeps me in shape and keeps the big guy here out of trouble."

"Warrick and I usually run at night. Helps us both sleep." was her cordial reply.

"Warrick?" came from Morgan with a raised eyebrow wondering if she was in a relationship.

Sam chuckled. "My dog."

"I should have known you weren't a cat person." was the easy reply as he continued to take in the sight of Sam before him.

Sam gave the shepherd one last rub to his ears before standing. "Well, my feet are freezing, so..." she gestured loosely to her house.

"Yeah, we better get going too. It's not doing us any good if we don't keep our heart rates up."

"Bye." was the simple reply as Sam scurried into her house with both man and dog watching her movements with interest.

Morgan waited until she was at her steps before he whistled to Clooney and they took up their jog again.

Sam hurried inside and leaned against the door. She had just been caught in her PJ's by Derek Morgan. And they weren't even boring PJ's! They were short and thin and indecent PJ's! She wasn't even wearing a bra and she knew that fact was noticeable with the thin tank top she had on. Thank heavens she had at least been wearing a flannel shirt. Glancing to her side she realized her living room window gave an excellent view of the road as it ran and curved away from her house. She realized it also gave her an excellent view of the retreating figure of her coworker as he ran down the road. She took a moment to appreciate the way he ran, the smoothness of his stride, the way the muscles rippled in his back, and just how good his backside looked. "Stop it!" she yelled at herself as she realized she was ogling a coworker. She had to get her thoughts in order before this got entirely out of hand. Deciding to start to clear her head immediately, she headed for her shower.

Sam spent her morning unpacking and settling in. Just after noon her phone rang. Seeing that it was JJ she briskly answered "Ryan."

"It's JJ. We caught a case. Meet at the BAU in 30 minutes."

"See you then." was Sam's brisk reply before hanging up. She knew her go bag was already at the BAU. She grabbed her laptop, iPod, and chargers before saying goodbye to Warrick and locking her house up behind her. She called her Godfather as she started to drive, arranging for him to pick up Warrick and take him to his house for however long this case lasted. She pulled into her spot in the BAU parking garage, grabbed her laptop case, and jogged to the entrance. When she arrived in the bullpen she was pleased to see that she wasn't the last one there. She pulled her go bag out from under her desk and set it on top. She settled her laptop bag on her chair and walked to the conference room.

Penelope smiled at her when she got there. "I forgot to give you something sweetness." said the tech kitten in greeting as she handed a tablet to Ryan. "With the exception of Reid, the entire team has tablets. It cuts down on the paper work and prevents files from being lost. Not to mention as we get new information, I can just send it to your tablets instantly. No more waiting for a fax machine or trying to get slow DSL at some police station in Podunk nowhere to work."

"Wow. In Vegas we were lucky that the Bureau sprung for pens and the coffee. Here we get a jet and personal tablets? How did we pull the strings to get this kind of funding?"

Garcia chuckled. "I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you. Well, that, or at least ruin your credit score." she teased.

Sam laughed. "I just bought a house, you wouldn't dare. Would you?"

Garcia just smirked.

Sam thought better than to push the woman. "I stand humbled before you oh Technical Goddess." was her easy reply as she settled into a seat.

Rossi was the last to enter the room before Hotch. Reid was conspicuously absent. Hotch opened his case file as Penelope called up images on the overhead screen and began the briefing. "Minneapolis MN. Police have had a series of teenagers murdered. All have been Caucasian males between the ages of fourteen and nineteen. All have been homeless and living on the street and all have been homosexual. The police have found eight bodies in varying stages of decomposition around the city so far. The problem is that these kids are runaways so there is nobody to report or even to realize that they are missing. We have no idea how many potential victims there may be out there. The first victim was found almost four months ago and it has taken police almost this long to put the pieces together and realize they are dealing with a serial killer. The last two murders have occurred in the last six days."

Hotch took over from Penelope. "At this point it appears that our Unsub has escalated and may now be going on a spree. Wheels up in twenty."

"Hotch, where's Reid at?" was Morgan's question.

Hotch offered a tight smile. "Evidently when JJ called Reid was in the bathtub. He tried to answer the phone in a rush and slipped getting out of the tub resulting in him injuring his ankle. He was going to call a cab to go the emergency room and was supposed to call us to let us know his condition as soon as he could. I'm going to call him now and find out if he is joining us or not." Hotch briskly walked out of the conference room and towards his office.

The team looked around the table at each other before Emily and Morgan couldn't suppress their chuckles any longer. "I can see it, can you see it?" was Morgan's question to the room.

Sam was confused. "Does this happen often?" was her question to the group.

Emily calmed her snickers down. "Not necessarily often, especially not anymore, but Reid has the worst luck. If any kind of stupid accident is going to happen to any member of this team, you can almost bet that it will be Reid that it happens to."

Rossi was the first to rein it in. "Come on guys, we have to head out. Grab your bags. Let's go."

The team walked into the bullpen in time to see Hotch hang up the phone in his office. He grabbed a bag and slung it over his shoulder before locking up his office and joining the team. "Reid has sprained his ankle and will be on crutches for at least the next two weeks before he can go to a walking boot. It's against regulations for him to fly while on crutches. Garcia, he'll be with you working the case from Quantico. Team, let's go."

Garcia hooted. "The boy genius is my bitch again!" squealed the tech goddess triumphantly.

Sam was surprised at this outburst while the rest of the team seemed unfazed. Morgan called over his shoulder "Be good to Pretty Boy my Baby Girl. Go easy on him. You know I love you Mama. See you when we get back."

As the elevator doors were closing Sam heard Garcia call back "Goodbye my Hot Stuff. Be safe."

*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*

The flight to Minnesota was uneventful. Case files were reviewed, pictures of the victims examined. The team hit the ground in Minneapolis late and, after retrieving the SUV's the local field office had left for them, decided to get some shut eye and start fresh early in the morning.

Pulling up to the hotel they all grabbed their bags and mingled in the lobby while Hotch obtained rooms. He walked back to the group. "All right, Emily and JJ room 400, Rossi and myself will be in Room 402 while Morgan and Reid…" Hotch stopped mid sentence. He realized he had only counted the usual six bodies of the BAU team. He had forgotten that Ryan was there instead of Reid. He couldn't put Agent Ryan in with Agent Morgan!

Morgan began to snicker. Ryan looked amused. Hotch began to backpedal. "I just need to go secure one more room." he quickly added.

Ryan interrupted. "Hotch, I'm sure the BAU has a budget. Six agents equal three rooms double occupancy. We can make do."

Hotch still looked unsure. "It isn't normal protocol to ask agents of opposite sexes to room with each other. Surely you would be more comfortable in your own room."

Ryan was amazed. She had heard stories of Aaron Hotchner before she came to the BAU. Usually he was cool as ice. Now, he was almost blushing. "Hotch, I sleep with a gun and I do not shoot to wound. I'll be fine. So will Morgan as long as he keeps his hands to himself." was her direct reply. The expression on her face almost out Hotched Hotch. Morgan was suddenly concerned that he should be worried.

Hotch cleared his throat and handed them their keys. "Alright then, Agents Morgan and Ryan room 404. If any problems arise, feel free to let me know." he said as he handed out the room keys.

Morgan turned to the younger agent and flashed his 1000 watt grin. "Come on roomie, let's get settled."

**AN - I hope you are enjoying things thus far. Next chapter Morgan and Ryan alone in a hotel room... *insert evil laughter here* Oh the things I could do. But remember, it is still rated T at this time. That may end up changing eventually. Any feedback anybody has would be appreciated. Just please, be kind. It's my first fic. ~MM**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN – Still don't own Criminal Minds. Still wish I did. ~MM**

Chapter 6

Morgan and Ryan settled into their hotel room quickly and efficiently. They had unpacked, Morgan had showered, and they were settled into pajamas reviewing their case files when Morgan decided that he couldn't take the silence anymore.

"As long as we are stuck together we might as well make conversation." came from Morgan's side of the room. "I mean, it's kinda too early to sleep."

Sam rolled her eyes and put down her tablet before turning her head to look at her coworker and current roommate. "Alright Morgan, what do you want to talk about?"

"Well, you're still getting to know the team. How about you ask the questions and I'll answer them?"

Sam thought for a moment. Deciding not to make this too easy on him she blurted out "Has Reid _ever_ gotten laid?"

Morgan couldn't believe her first question! He almost fell off his bed he was laughing so hard. With tears running down his face he finally managed to catch his breath. "Of all the questions you could ask, that is the first thing that popped into your head? Don't tell me you have a thing for the doctor, Doctor." he teased.

Sam blushed. "No, he's just so innocent, naïve almost. It makes you wonder."

Morgan continued to chuckle. "The easy answer to that question is that we think so."

"What do you mean, you think so? You two are obviously close; you're almost brotherly in the way you treat him. And you just _think_ he's gotten laid? You already told me Reid is older than I am."

"Pump your brakes there girl. Pretty Boy likes to play some hands close to the vest. And Lila Archer was one of those things." Morgan continued.

Sam shook her head. "Wait, Lila Archer the actress? The one who was on that cheap Baywatch knockoff but now is on that crime drama and just got nominated for an Emmy Lila Archer?"

"Unlike some other genius I know, you know your pop culture. That's her. We had a case in LA where she was being stalked and her stalker was killing the people around her to show her love for Lila and to protect her and further Lila's career. Reid was her protection detail and she developed a crush on our Pretty Boy. I watched her pull him into a pool and lay a few smokin' hot kisses on him as a matter of fact. And I know they kept in touch after we left LA. She was in Virginia for few weeks shooting some TV movie about a year later and I know that for the first time Reid was slipping into work barely on time and bolting out the door the second the clock hit five. And I've never seen him that mellow; the boy didn't even ramble. So, we think he spent a few weeks getting his carrot waxed. Problem is, he won't confirm or deny and unlike the kisses in the pool we don't have any photos."

Sam was amazed. "You have surveillance photos of Reid playing tonsil hockey?"

Morgan pulled out his cell and hit speed dial and speaker.

"Office of Omnipotence, challenge me Hot Stuff."

Sam's eyes widened at the greeting.

"Baby Girl you're on speaker. Can you send those photos of Lila and Reid to Sam's tablet? It would mean a lot to me."

Garcia chuckled. "That I can do without even leaving my couch. Make me work for it next time my Chocolate God. Garcia out."

Morgan put down his phone and began to count "Three, two, one…" and Sam's tablet beeped.

Picking it up from the bedside table Sam opened the incoming file. Sure enough, pictures of an even younger Dr. Reid fully clothed in a pool, looking slightly like a drowned rat, with his lips molded to a bikini clad blond and his hands framing her face. "These were taken by the surveillance team?"

Morgan chuckled. "Actually by a paparazzi I threatened to shoot. Agent Greenaway pulled his film out of his camera to keep Reid out of the tabloids but thought better of throwing it away and sent it to Garcia instead to see if any of it could be saved. Turns out, some frames could."

"Does Reid know you have these?"

"Nope." came out with a pop on the P and a very satisfied smirk on the face of one Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side Morgan." she said as she put the tablet back on the table.

Morgan continued to watch her as she rolled onto her back and propped her hands under her head. She pulled her feet up so they were flat on the bed and her knees were bent. To the casual observer she looked relaxed. To Morgan, she looked like she had just put herself in a position where she could move in several different directions in a hurry if she needed to. Trying not to read too much into his team mate's body language he examined her pajamas while he waited for the next question. He was irrationally disappointed at the baggy flannel pants and loose t-shirt combo she wore, especially since he already knew she didn't wear things like that in her everyday life.

"Is Rossi really as much of a man whore as they make him out to be?"

"I think man whore is a little harsh…"

Sam interrupted him. "Three ex-wives and stories of having as many as three female agents on the line at one time with indiscretions happening within the walls of the Bureau itself? If you can't even wait until quitting time then yes, I'm sorry, you are by definition a man whore."

Morgan sighed. "All right, your logic is hard to dispute. If you ask Rossi he is working on wife number four. However, he ain't working that hard if you ask me. He dates but he doesn't fool around at work and he certainly doesn't have twenty somethings popping in and out of his office at lunchtime. I think Dave pretty much got that out of his system already and now enjoys dating women instead of girls."

Sam mulled Rossi's reported lifestyle over for a minute before continuing. "Does Hotch do anything but work?"

Morgan took the time to reposition himself. He rolled so that he was lying on his side, head propped up on one arm and observing Sam while considering how to answer.

"He's a dad. He even coaches his son's soccer team with Rossi as the assistant coach." he finished with a chuckle.

"Rossi as a kid's coach? As in gets up really early on a Saturday to watch little miniature people run around in shirts with numbers on the back after a black and white ball and goes out for pizza afterwards? Not exactly what I expected from the infamous womanizing David Rossi." said Sam.

"Yeah, I know, but I think he gets more of a kick out of it than he will ever let on."

Sam let the silence settle for a few minutes before she continued. "What do you mean when you say he's a dad?"

Morgan's smirk went away. "I mean that that little boy is the most important thing in Hotch's world. And the minute he walks out the doors of the BAU he goes from Hotch, BAU Unit Chief with ice water flowing through his veins and capable of taking down any Unsub in anything from a dark alley to an interrogation room to Aaron, the guy trying to be Mom and Dad and breadwinner for a pretty special little boy."

"That explains why he's not really dating yet."

Morgan was surprised. "How do you know he's not dating?"

"Please, Derek, he got flustered at the idea of two adult agents of opposite sexes sharing a hotel room. The thought of what we might do passed through his head and then the thought of what he might do with a willing partner passed through his head and then he was embarrassed to have sex on the brain at work. Trust me, the man hasn't gotten any for a long time. If he had, he wouldn't have blushed."

Morgan was astounded. "I know he has had a few quick dates with a lady he met training for a triathlon. But I'm willing to bet Hotch always kissed her goodbye at her door. He's like that. He's respectful but just a little old fashioned. He also was with Haley since high school. Having spent the last twenty years with your high school sweetheart doesn't give a guy great confidence when stepping back out into the dating world, so go easy on him."

"Speaking of dating, what is up with you and Garcia? Am I gonna have to watch my credit score now that I am spending the night in a hotel room with you cause I gotta admit that woman scares me just a little bit."

"No, Mama isn't gonna hurt you unless you hurt her Hot Stuff or any other member of this team. Then the fires of hell would break loose in a digital format. Penelope is just my Baby Girl. She's my best friend, my light at the end of the tunnel, and my sunshine and laughter when I need it the most. She has been amazingly unique from the moment we met and I called her Gomez by mistake. That woman is my God given solace that keeps me sane on the most insane of days and I don't know what I would do without her. But no, her heart belongs to Kevin Lynch. He's a technical analyst for the Bureau as well. He isn't nearly as good as Penelope, but he does OK and he treats her right so the team hasn't had to kill him yet."

Sam thought about it. "And, how does Garcia feel about this best friend arrangement?"

Morgan laughed. "She is happy that I am her best friend and her confidant and goes into a slight panic when she thinks there could be something else goin' on. She sees me as the sugar to her spice. We love each other, we just can't fall in love with each other."

"I guess I understand. I mean, my best friend is a gay man that I've had an in depth discussion about oral sex techniques with but can't image actually doing anything with so…"

Morgan cut her off with a groan as he rolled on his back. "You can't say things like that to a man. We get ideas! We have one track minds! You know I have to sleep in here tonight, right?"

Sam couldn't help but feel the little thrill of satisfaction at his discomfort. "Morgan, if you can't take the heat it's not my fault. You should have objected to us rooming together earlier. Just think of me as one of the guys. I'm sure you've talked about sex with your guy friends."

Morgan turned his head and shot a glance at Sam. "You sure as hell don't look like any of my guy friends. There ain't a damn one of them that ever wore a t-shirt with Eeyore on the front."

Sam sat up, pulling her feet under her and managing to look sweet and innocent enough to be at a teenage slumber party. "So, you and Penelope have never, ever, ever discussed sex in any form?"

She had him there. Sexual innuendo practically dripped from every sassy exchange. And, they had once over several bottles of wine, gotten into a discussion about that very topic. A very in depth, in detail discussion as Penelope had just started to become serious with Lynch and wanted to be able to ask a few questions she was too embarrassed to ask of her new beau. Morgan had to smile at the thought of his Baby Girl being shy about anything, but he remembered the blush on her cheeks and the way she had trouble meeting his eyes. Then he noticed Sam's quirked eyebrow and wondered what his facial expressions were giving away. 'One of the guys, Morgan, she's just of the guys.' Clearing his throat he continued. "OK, maybe Mama and I have gotten a little tipsy and the subject has come up, but it's not like it's a regular occurrence."

Sam decided Morgan had squirmed enough. "Alright." she said simply before stretching out on her side and adopting a pose similar to the one Morgan had just abandoned.

Seeing his opportunity to regain the offensive Morgan couldn't help but ask. "How are you an expert in sex crimes?"

Ryan just shrugged her shoulder. "I don't know, I guess everybody just has their nitch."

Morgan raised an eyebrow. She was trying just a little too hard to be casual about the question and he decided to press the issue. "That's it; it's just your nitch?"

Ryan continued. "I am good with the victims. I can talk to people who have been violated in some of the worst ways and try and make the retelling of it not feel like it is happening all over again. And then when I have a suspect in the interrogation room I take what I've learned from the victims and get them to break. Sometimes I'm sympathetic and sometimes I am the biggest hard ass you've ever met. It just depends on who is sitting across the table from me."

Morgan decided to let it marinate while he watched her do her job. He wanted to see if she could back up what she claimed. "Damn it's late. Why don't we turn in? Morning is gonna come fast and we have a big day."

He watched Sam snuggle under her covers before he did the same and flicked off the lights and tried to quiet his thoughts.

**AN – I hope you are enjoying Morgan's discomfort (author channels her inner wicked witch and cackles with glee). The poor boy is going to have more to be upset about in future chapters. Much, much, more…. ~MM**


	7. Chapter 7

*AN – In the words of someone else and I quote "Not my sandbox but I'm still gonna play in it" ~MM*

Chapter 7

The team was able to clear the Minneapolis case quickly. Thanks to an observant witness and Penelope's skills they were able to use cameras all over the city to track the movements of a street pastor who claimed to preach tolerance but in reality practiced anything but. The jet ride home Friday afternoon was quiet, everyone was trying to finish up their paperwork so that when they landed they would be free to go home instead of staying at the office. Being Friday, there was even talk of going out as a team to grab a few drinks.

They all ended up at down the street at O'Malley's that night. Amid the laughing, dancing, and darts Sam and Penelope found themselves sitting at the table alone. Sam finally gathered her courage and addressed the other woman. "Penelope, I was wondering if you could help me with something?"

Garcia turned to look at her newest team member. "Who do you need me to digitally annihilate sugar?"

Sam laughed. "Nothing so simple, actually. I need your help finding a dress."

Penelope was surprised. "Not that I mind shopping but what kind of a dress are we talking about here? Hopefully something in the little and black category."

Sam glanced around quickly, making sure that all of their teammates were distracted. "I need a formal dress. My Uncle is a Marine Corps Officer and he needs me to go as his plus one to the Navy and Marine Corps Ball next Friday."

"Gumdrop," Garcia squealed. "I would love to help. Oh, we can go tomorrow, I know just the place to start and if they don't have it then we can look at this cute little boutique and then we can…"

Sam cut her off. "Thank you Garcia, but can you also keep this quiet?"

Penelope looked at her coworker in surprise. "Why? You are going with your uncle to a formal event supporting our military. Why would you be upset about the team knowing about that?"

"Maybe because I am still trying to find my place on this team and I don't do the girly thing well at all."

"My lips are sealed. See you tomorrow at ten am. I'll pick you up at your place and we'll grab brunch. Then we shop!"

Morgan and Reid walked back to the table after having been beaten badly in darts by JJ and Rossi. "What you shopping for Baby Girl?" was Morgan's question to Garcia

"Girl stuff Hot Stuff. Stuff that would totally bore you boys to even hear about."

Sam shot Penelope a grateful look before draining her beer and getting up to grab another.

*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*

The next morning Sam took Warrick for a quick run as the sun rose before grabbing a shower and getting ready for a girl's day out. She was sitting on her front porch nursing a cup of coffee when Penelope pulled up in an orange Cadillac convertible. Laughing she began to walk towards the car.

"Meet Esther." was Penelope's immediate declaration.

"Esther, huh? Where did you find her?" was punctuated by the sound of a shut car door.

Penelope slid into reverse and began to drive. "She called to me from a corner car lot. Only had 150,000 miles on her and came in this color. I knew she was perfect for me from the moment I drove by her."

Sam just laughed. Penelope was one of a kind. They pulled up to a small café and got out. Penelope led the way in and they slid into a corner booth. They ordered and Penelope pulled out a tablet while they waited and began to grill Sam on just what kind of a dress they were looking for.

Sam was unsure. "Well, formal so long. Nothing too revealing; I'm going to be with family so something classy? And something that I can hide my gun in."

Penelope laughed. "You know, not very many women consider the concealed weapons factor when shopping for a dress."

"Told you I sucked at this girly thing."

"Nonsense, now that I know what we are shopping for I know what store to start at. So now we focus on far juicier things. Tell me all about that Eric of yours."

*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*

Brunch was quickly over. They headed into a dress boutique and Penelope began to pull dress after dress off the racks before pushing them into Sam's arms and pushing her into the dressing rooms. "Just start at the top of the pile and come out and let me see what they look like. I need to see exactly what style is going to look good before we can find 'the dress.'" came the order worthy of a drill sergeant.

Sam rolled her eyes. "You realize this is just a night out with family? I go, I dance, I provide the requisite escort for a man I care about before I come home, change into sweats, and have a beer, right?"

"Shoo" was the reply from the tech kitten motioning with her hands to hurry up already. As soon as Sam disappeared behind the dressing room entrance Penelope pulled out her cell and hit speed dial.

"Morgan." was the slightly out of breath answer.

"Oh, my Hot Chocolate, did I catch you all hot and sweaty working out?"

"Sorry Mama, I'm knocking down a wall on one of my properties. I thought you were having a girl's day today? What are you doing on the phone with me?"

Penelope chuckled. "I am. I just shoved Sam into the dressing rooms and I am dying for her to come out and let me see. But, I just wanted to double check a few things with you. Your favorite color is dark blue, right?"

"Yes, but you know that. Where are you going with this?" was the hesitant reply.

"Oh Derek, stop being so suspicious. Just because I am having a girl's day doesn't mean I can't see something and think of you."

"Sorry Baby, it's the profiler in me. You know me Mama, just trust your instincts."

"I will. Bye." was purred into the phone as Sam appeared from behind the curtain.

She grinned sheepishly at Penelope before stopping in front of her. "I feel like a nun."

Penelope surveyed the dress. Indeed, the black and white maxi style with the sharp lines and square cut did nothing but swallow the woman in front of her. "Nope, next." was the simple order as she waved her hand in the direction of the dressing room.

Dresses two, three, and four were better. Sam's shape was beginning to show and Penelope became more dedicated to the hunt. She obtained the assistance of a salesperson at the shop and had another pile waiting for Sam as she came out in a strapless number that had a flamenco skirt.

"Nuh uhh Garcia. I feel like I am about to be strangled by ruffles. Not to mention, white is just not my color."

Penelope nodded. The second round of dresses were mostly in rich jewel tones. "All right, give those back and try these."

Sam quickly brought back the original armful before dutifully going off to try on some more. She came out in an ankle length sheath that was a rich green. Penelope nodded encouragingly. "All right, the color tone is right and you certainly have the figure for it."

"Sorry Pen, I cannot hide a gun in this dress. I can't even hide it on a thigh holster because of this slit that goes almost up to my hip. We keep looking Penelope."

Pen tried to hide her disappointment. "All right, next." was the simple reply.

Sam came out in a black strapless cocktail dress. "I feel like I will fall out of this if I bend over Pen."

Penelope walked around her with a critical eye. "I see your point. Keep trying them on, if you find one you like yell, I am gonna take one more walk through the store."

Sam stood with arms akimbo. "You're abandoning me?" came out almost desperately.

"Fear not sugarplum, I'm a yell away." she threw over her shoulder as she headed for the back of the store. Pulling out her cell when she was out of earshot she again hit speed dial.

"All right Goddess, now what's up?"

"I need a man's perspective and Kevin will be clueless so I called my Chocolate Adonis for input." was Garcia's reply.

"You know Mama, it kinda removes the point of a girl's day if you keep calling a man, but fire away."

'Here goes' thought Pen. "I found a dress, but it's a long dress and I'm not sure about it. You know I usually go for short and sassy. So, as a man, what do you like about long dresses and what do you hate?"

Morgan was silent for a minute. "All right, I can see why you didn't call Kevin. He would just tell you that anything you like is fine with him so let me speak for the rest of the men out there. We like short skirts because they tease us. You can see a woman in heels and follow her legs all the way up. If the dress is long and you want to keep our interest it has to tease as well. It has to move when you move, it has to hint at your shape, it is hiding our view so it has to make up for it in other ways. That being said, a long dress is almost sexier because we get to unwrap you at the end of the night and see if our imagination was right or if it so much better than what we even imagined. And girl believe me, Kevin will be imaging just pushing that skirt out of the way at least once the night you wear it for him. Now, does that help my Baby Girl?"

"Yes my prince, it does. Thank you." Penelope replied. "See you on Monday." she added before ending the call and walking through the store with new purpose. In the corner on a rack she saw it. It was a dark midnight blue, made of soft satin, and it was the only one there. Checking the tag she saw it was even the right size. Picking it up she hurried back to the dressing rooms before exclaiming "I found it!"

Sam looked bored to tears. She was back in her street clothes sitting in one of the chairs beside a rack full of rejected dresses. Penelope held up the dress and it caught Sam's interest. "Last one Pen." was her hesitant reply.

Penelope waited on pins and needles outside the dressing room. Sam came out with a faint flush and a small smile. "What do you think?" was her hesitant question.

Penelope made a twirling motion with her hand and the other woman hesitantly complied. When she completed the circle Penelope couldn't hold it in anymore. "That's it!" she said clapping her hands.

Sam took one more look in the full length mirror. She liked it and even better she felt comfortable in it. "All right PG, you did it. Let's buy this and go." was her simple reply as she went to change back into her street clothes.

Penelope again pulled out her tablet and began to reexamine her To Do list. She began to ramble as they headed to the checkouts. "Next we get shoes, a wrap, a clutch, lingerie, jewelry, makeup…"

Sam cut her off. "Pen, night out with family being a plus one. Not a date." she tried to emphasize.

Penelope just chuckled. "Darling, just because it's family doesn't mean you shouldn't knock their socks off. Trust me."

Sam just rolled her eyes. It was going to be a long day.

*AN – Hope you are enjoying reading this as much as I am enjoying writing this. If anyone has any feedback it would be great. ~MM *


	8. Chapter 8

*AN – I'm double checking. Nope, still don't own or profit in any way from Criminal Minds. But I can dream.*

Chapter 8

"Done." was the satisfied exclamation from their newest team member as she put down her pen and gathered up her case files before making a bee-line to Garcia's office. The week had flown by even though they had spent it catching up on paperwork.

"Plans tonight Sam?" was the question posed to her by Prentiss as she saw her bring a dress bag back from Garcia's lair.

"Something like that." was the quick reply as the red-haired agent pulled her go bag out from under her desk before slinging it on her shoulder and heading to the women's bathroom with Garcia hot on her heels.

Prentiss, Morgan, Reid, and JJ continued to work until something caught Reid's attention. The young genius looked stunned until he smiled and, in very uncharacteristic fashion, let out a wolf-whistle causing the other three members of the team to stare at him before turning to see what he was smiling at.

Crossing the bullpen was Ryan. She was wearing the dress. It was midnight blue and full length with a low-cut neckline and plunging back. The bodice of the dress was fitted like a second skin. The skirt began its flare low on her hips and flowed like water around her as she walked. Her hair was done up exposing her neck and delicate earrings graced her ears. Her makeup was subtle and dramatic at the same time. Her eyes smoldered, her skin looked pale and flawless and faint color highlighted her cheeks. The bulky ring on her right hand even looked like it belonged there. She looked innocent and sexy all at the same time. Reaching her desk, Garcia set down her go bag and pulled her in for a hug. "Knock 'em dead tonight chica."

Morgan couldn't believe his eyes. He could handle having Ryan around as long as he thought of her like she had asked, as just one of the guys. But with as much creamy skin as she was displaying and the fact she looked like every wet dream he had ever had, he wasn't so sure he could treat her like one of the guys anymore.

"Hot date tonight?" was the question posed by JJ.

"I guess you could call it that." was Sam's easy reply as she slipped a tube of lipstick into a matching clutch and laid out her badge and gun on the desk.

The gang had gathered around, hoping for a juicy story and even Hotch and Rossi had made their way out of their respective offices to stand by the railing. The elevator opened and two middle-aged men began to cross over to the bull pen. Each was in a military dress uniform but one was a Marine and one was Navy. Both had FBI visitor's passes clipped onto their lapels. Hotch and Rossi began to walk across the floor to greet them.

"Commander, Lieutenant Colonel, how can we help you tonight?" was the question from Rossi as the men shook hands.

The Marine Lt. Colonel smiled before replying "We are here to escort Agent Ryan to the Navy and Marine Corps Ball." The team watched as he easily pulled a smiling Sam to him and gave her a strong hug. Surprisingly, she didn't resist at all, even when he pulled back and looked down at her with a smirk before asking "Ready to go, Princess?"

The Commander had stood silently until now, a patient expression on his face while he took in the team surrounding the beautiful young woman in the Colonel's arms. The older agents looked bemused by the greeting she gave. The women and the lanky young man looked surprised. The powerful bald man had a feral glint in his eye as he watched her hug the older man and seem so comfortable in his embrace. She pulled back from her first hug and approached him wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him tightly. Not a man to give into emotion, he took a moment to close his eyes and just concentrate on the feel of the young woman in his arms, knowing that despite her job and her stubbornness, in this moment, he knew she was safe.

"Daddy, Chuck said you made it ashore." she breathed easily as she fell into her father's arms with a smile, laying her head on his shoulder and enjoying the fact that just for a moment she didn't have to be anything but his little girl.

"Daddy?" was the question barked from the bald agent.

Pulling back from her father's embrace she smiled and looked at her team. "Guys, allow me to introduce my dad, Commander David Ryan and his best friend and my Godfather, Lt. Colonel Charles Houlihan."

A chuckle went through the group as they realized how obviously wrong their initial assumptions were and Sam continued. "Dad, Uncle Chuck, this is my new team. My unit chief Aaron Hotchner, SSA and author David Rossi, the boy genius Dr. Spencer Reid, and SSAs Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau, and Derek Morgan as well as our Technical Analyst and personal oracle Penelope Garcia."

The group mingled and shook hands as Sam gathered up her things. The team seemed surprised when she calmly pulled the hem of her dress up to expose her left thigh before clipping her badge to the thick elastic band she had above her knee and below the top of her stocking. Letting the dress fall, she picked up her gun, checked the chamber and the safety and repeated the motion with the right thigh sliding the gun securely into the holster she had on.

"Expecting problems Princess?" was the question from the Colonel, smirk on his face as he thought about how classically Sam the maneuver she just pulled was.

"You are taking me to the Navy and Marine Corps Ball. Basically I will be in room filled with testosterone loaded alpha-males along with alpha-male wanna bee's in the form of simpering politicians, lobbyists, and overindulged rich boys. Chances are, somebody's gonna make the same assumption my team just did and think I am sleeping with one or both of you and try to enhance their social status by trying to steal me away from you. If you don't mind, I want to make sure I can take care of myself. I can't guarantee I will have my clutch at hand all night and anyway I feel better with my credentials on my person. And, I refuse to pull my badge without my gun to back it up. Besides," she said with an exasperated lilt in her voice "where the hell else am I suppose to put them in this dress?"

"I don't know. I would pay to see you flip some guy and pin him to the ground with your ridiculously high heel at his throat." was the chuckled reply from the Colonel.

"Chuck." was the admonishing reply from Commander Ryan causing the team to chuckle as the tone was almost identical to the one Hotch used.

"Chuck, you know exactly what will happen if I can't quietly diffuse the situation. You and Dad will come running to my rescue and then if the poor boy is military he will wish he wasn't or if he's civilian he will wish he was dead." Sam stated plainly. Even after all these years and everything these two men had done to ensure she could take care of herself, they still felt the need to protect her. Sam chuckled to herself. She was fully capable of making any man regret the day his nuts dropped courtesy of the two men she was closest to. Picking up her clutch and a wrap, she moved to stand between them. Each offered her an arm, and accepting both she walked between them to the elevators.

"Hey Princess," called a snickering Morgan unable to pass up use of the personal nickname, "have a good time tonight."

Sam paused. Dropping both her uncle Chuck and her dad's arms she pulled the ring off of her right hand and handed it to her father along with her clutch and wrap. "Daddy, would you hold these for me please?" she asked calmly while turning and beginning to walk back across the bullpen towards Agent Morgan.

"Five to one says she only hits him, even though I would pay to see him land on his ass." Chuck quietly whispered to David as the Commander shot the Colonel a look of contempt.

Sam strode directly to Morgan, eyes making contact with his, steps even and unhurried, breathing controlled before socking him hard enough in the shoulder with a right cross that the whole room flinched in sympathy. "Don't ever call me Princess." was the stated command as his hand went to rub his shoulder and his surprised brown eyes met her blazing green ones. Morgan held his tongue and merely smiled in reply. Sam held her gaze on his for a moment trying to interpret that smile before promptly turning on her heel and striding back to her escorts for the evening. "Thank you Daddy." was the simple reply as she accepted her ring back and slid it into place on her finger before again accepting the men's arms and walking towards the elevators.

As soon as the elevator doors closed Rossi couldn't take it anymore and let loose a chuckle. "Morgan, you brought that upon yourself. You broke your own rules. Never antagonize a woman who carries a gun. Now, go ice your shoulder Champ, that sounded like it's gonna leave a mark."

Rossi and Hotch headed back to their respective offices while Morgan headed downstairs to the gym to grab an icepack. The four remaining team members looked at each other with curiosity trying to make sense of the scene that had just unfolded before them.

"Guys, we have a problem." was the statement from Emily.

"If you don't think that Ryan and Morgan can work together I think you will be mistaken." was the rambling reply from Reid. "Obviously they are still struggling for position in the team pecking order and since they are both Alpha personality types used to being the one to protect their team members from physical threats this is to be expected. However, I don't think that that little display of aggression actually meant anything. If it was anything more than for show and to cover her nervousness at being on display in such a blatantly feminine manner in front of all of us, she would have done considerably more damage and Morgan would have retaliated."

The girls stared at Reid in disbelief. How could a man that was so smart be so dumb? "Reid!" was the sharp retort from Garcia. "First of all, no inter-team profiling. Second, did you miss the part of high school where a girl hitting a boy actually means I like you and I don't know how to tell you?"

Reid paused for a moment to process that statement before answering. "Considering I graduated high school at twelve and didn't hit puberty until I was in college, yes, you could say I missed that part of the experience. But, what does that have to do with anything?"

"Reid, trust us. Woman's intuition and profiling skills to back it up, Sam and Morgan like each other. They are attracted to one another. They want to jump each other and hump like little bunny rabbits that have had Viagra tested on them. They just don't know what to do about it yet." was Garcia's snappy reply. 'Seriously,' she thought 'Boy Genius has got to get out more.'

"Come on Spencer," was JJ's quiet request. "Come out with us girls and we'll explain it all to you over dinner." And with that the remaining four began to gather their things and head home for the evening.

*AN - xXxD3ADxXx, thanks for the support and the repeat feedback. I'm not sure if this is what you envisioned or not, but trust me, it has to be this way. They are not done circling each other yet. Greyhoundgirl thanks again for being my beta. This would have never gotten published without all of your support! ~MM*


	9. Chapter 9

*AN – Still don't own the characters or the show. Still wish I did. Do you blame me?*

Chapter 9

Monday morning everyone anxiously awaited Sam's arrival. Morgan had started a pool on whether or not she would have to pull her credentials and if she would back them up with her gun. Even Hotch had taken part. Now two hundred and eighty bucks was on the line.

Sam walked into the bull pen and dropped her bag. She hadn't been accepted as the new member of this team for nothing. She noticed that everyone except Morgan was trying not to pay attention to her. Morgan was leaning back in his desk chair and looked at her over the rim of his coffee cup. "Well? …" was all that came out of his mouth.

"Well, what? I had a nice night on Friday. Anybody made coffee yet this morning?" was her calm reply before she grabbed her mug, turned, and walked to the break room.

Emily laid into Morgan as soon as Sam was in the break room. "Damn it Morgan, we told you to let us girls work on getting the answer. You can't push her like that."

"I let you and JJ talk to her and she will lie through her teeth. She tangled with someone that night and we just have to find out who and how bad and who gets the payout."

Morgan stewed for a moment over his cup of coffee before deciding to take matters into his own hands. He stood up and walked into Garcia's lair. "Hey Baby Girl, I need a favor."

"Speak and see if your wish shall be granted Hot Stuff." was her laughing reply. "Who or what do you need me to find?"

"I need you to hack into the ballroom cameras where the Navy and Marine Corps Ball was Friday night and find our very own Agent Ryan and track her movements. If that doesn't work or if there are blind spots, I need you to track down Lt. Colonel Charles "Chuck" Houlihan and pump him for information about what happened Friday night. A decent pot is on the line and I gotta know who to pay out to."

Garcia chuckled as her fingers began to click away at the keyboard in front of her and screens began to flash. "Ballroom first?"

Derek leaned in over her shoulder. "I love it when you work your magic Baby Girl. Now, find Sam."

"Let's make this easy sweetness." she said as screens continued to flash. "First, we pull up images of Sam, her daddy, and her seriously sexy Uncle Chuck and we input them into the body mass recognition software."

Derek took a step back as Garcia continued to click away at the keyboard. "What do you mean sexy?"

Garcia rolled her eyes. "Don't worry Hot Stuff, Mama loves you." she said with a smile. "But you have to admit, clean cut, square jaw, metals on his chest over that uniform and that smile. Yummy! He fits the mold of tall, dark and divine. The only thing that would make it better would be if he sounded like Sean Connery."

"I didn't know you had a thing for older men." Derek said, somewhat taken aback.

"With as much as I love Kevin Costner you never guessed that? I'm surprised. But baby don't worry, he's not available anyway."

Derek was trying to keep up. "What do you mean? How do you know? He wasn't wearing a wedding ring and he would have brought any lady he was serious about to an event like that instead of his Goddaughter. What information have you already looked up and not shared with the class?" he asked in a slightly accusatory tone.

"Woman's intuition my Chocolate Stud Muffin. Trust me, he and the Commander are more than best friends. And, I'm willing to bet on it."

Derek wasn't one of the best profilers in the BAU for nothing. He hadn't gotten that vibe off of the men. On one hand, this would be an easy win. On the other, he felt bad for taking advantage of his Baby Girl. "Just what are we putting on the line here Gorgeous?"

Penelope thought for a minute. She had visions of all sorts of things that she would love her Chocolate Adonis to do for her. "Hmmm, decisions, decisions. How about this, winner gets to name their prize. Nothing painful, nothing monetary. It could be anything from cleaning my apartment to making me dinner to getting a killer Morgan neck massage, just depends on how I feel when I win."

Morgan chuckled beginning to think of ways to make her pay. "All right darlin', keep dreaming. I will have plenty of time to think up all of the things I could claim when I win."

"Pinky swear?" was the question asked by Garcia as she held out her hand, little finger extended.

"Deal." said Morgan firmly, wrapping his pinky finger around hers and giving their hands a quick shake. "Now, what do you got for me about Sam's activities last night?"

"OK, so they arrived at the Ball here." Garcia began to click through screens, watching the video in fast forward. "They mingle, she dances with both of them, and, oh, this is interesting."

Penelope slowed the video. They watched as Sam looked surprised by the man who had walked up to them but she shook his hand willingly and went off to dance with him.

Derek watched Sam in the video using his skills at reading non-verbal communication to his advantage. He wasn't exactly pleased to see her in the arms of a young Marine, his hand on the bare skin of the small of her back rather than her waist as her dad and Godfather had stuck with. "She upset. Not by his presence or anything he's doing but by something else. She seems so sad; you can almost feel it from here."

"Something is off." Penelope said as they switched monitors to continue to watch her dance with the man. "He's moving stilted, almost off balance. We already saw that Sam can dance, she practically floated with her dad and Chuck, but when she's with him they are barely moving around the floor, and she is always the one moving backwards. That's different."

"That's what happens when you lose both legs in combat and have to learn to walk all over again with prosthetics." was the cold comment from the doorway. "And, in the future, if you want to know what is going on in my life, I would appreciate it if you just asked me. By the way, we have a case; conference room in five minutes. " Sam stated before turning sharply on her heel and walking away from their Tech Goddess' lair.

Derek and Penelope looked at each other guilt evident in both of their expressions. "What do we do?" was her whispered question.

Derek looked at Garcia. He knew her and he knew that she hated the thought of hurting anybody. "I man up and take responsibility and ask for forgiveness. That's what we do. Prying into her activities was my idea after all. Now, we got a case. Let's go."

Walking into the conference room was awkward. Derek noticed that Sam wasn't there yet as he and Garcia took their seats.

Sam walked in last closely followed by Hotch. Her shoulders were squared, her mouth set in a line. She took her seat, placed her elbows on the conference table and folded her hands together in front of her as she addressed the group. "Yes, I had a good time. Yes, I enjoy dancing. Yes, I met a few old acquaintances. Yes, at about 9:30 pm some asshole tried to start something. No, I didn't pull my gun. Yes, I did pull my credentials. Yes, I did drop him to his knees. Yes, I'm pretty sure it hurt. No, nobody else was dumb enough to bother me after seeing that. Yes, he quickly left after I let him up, maybe because his whining essentially became a homing beacon and called the proverbial cavalry in and it was politely suggested to him that he should leave. Now, who won?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Morgan sighed. "Reid nailed it, although how I don't know."

One side of Sam's mouth twitched, she hadn't expected Reid to be the one to win this. She thought for sure one of the girls would walk away the winner. "How much?"

Everyone began to squirm in their seats before Reid finally broke the tension. "We put forty dollars apiece in."

Sam instantly did the math. "So, you just won two forty?"

"Two eighty, actually." was Reid's sheepish reply.

Sam's eyes widened slightly. "So all seven of you were in on this? Hotch, I kinda expected more of my Unit Chief." she sighed. "I know I'm the new kid here, but I was told when I joined this team that you were a family. If this is how you treat family I would hate to be an enemy." Sam ran a hand through her hair in an irritated fashion. "Next time, just ask me. I don't like people going behind my back. I just don't have any patience for being messed with like that."

Penelope was the first to speak up. "We're sorry. It was a stupid bet…"

Morgan interrupted her. "Sam, really, it's my fault. Nobody here would have started a pool if it wasn't for my lead. We were wrong, we never should have taken your personal life so lightly and I do apologize."

Sam thought for a moment. "Now that we've established that, Morgan, pay the man and let's get on with this. I thought we had a case."

Hotch began to brief the team. "Bangor, Maine. A series of rapes have been committed against blond women between the ages of thirty and forty. He abducts the victims before holding them between 24-48 hours while raping them repeatedly. The victims report that at first he is cordial. He is talkative, calming, soothing while he dyes their hair platinum, gives them a manicure and pedicure, and plucks their eyebrows. After they have been groomed and dressed he becomes violent. None of the victims know how they were eventually rendered unconscious but all have been found wrapped in surplus wool army blankets and placed in bus stop shelters. The levels of violence have been escalating and the sixth victim was beaten almost to death and is currently in a medically induced coma in an attempt to get ahead of her brain trauma. He seems to be escalating. Wheels up in twenty."

The case in Maine was blissfully fast; the team was there for barely seventy two hours. The man who was abducting women was a man whose girlfriend had left him recently and had taken a Greyhound out of his life. She was a hairstylist who kept her hair dyed platinum blond. He was recreating his ex-girlfriend with each victim and then punishing her with the rapes and the beatings. Being an electrician he had no difficulty modifying a stun gun to be able to incapacitate his victims when he was ready to dump them instead of them dumping him. The team had managed to catch him and he was now a guest of the state corrections system awaiting his trial.

Sam had spent a great deal of time with the victims doing cognitive interviews and she had been quiet and withdrawn on the jet ride back. The team slid into the BAU to do necessary paperwork before trickling out one by one to the remainder of their evenings. Morgan noticed that Sam slid out quietly without telling anyone goodbye. Curious he followed her, watching as she opened the back of her SUV and unlocked a compartment before retrieving a shooting bag. Locking it and her car back up, she headed to the indoor range.

Morgan stayed a cautious distance back. He watched Sam enter the range, watched her open the bag and pull out an additional handgun as well as clips and ammunition. She also pulled out a small iPod dock and slipped her iPod into it. Music began to scream through the air as Sam hung a series of targets and dropped a series of clips across the different shooting lanes. She tucked her second weapon in her waistband at the small of her back. She slid on shooting glasses and put on ear protection before stepping up to the line in the first booth. She began to fire, emptying the ten rounds she had loaded before dropping the clip and stepping to the next lane. She picked up the next clip, loaded it, chambered the first round, and resumed firing. Again she emptied and dropped the clip before moving to her right again. She went through three clips in three lanes with her Glock before holstering the weapon and pulling her backup piece. Three more targets later she replaced her backup weapon and began to pull in targets and reload clips. Morgan decided to make his presence known.

"Nice choice in music." he commented dryly. "I didn't know you listened to metal."

Sam shot him a look. "I wouldn't call exactly call Staind and Evanescence metal. And what the hell does it matter what kind of music I listen to Morgan?"

Morgan drew in the sixth target eyeing the half dollar sized hole that had replaced the very center. "It doesn't. Feel free to listen to whatever works for you." he said noncommittally as he replaced the target and moved to the next lane to his right to repeat the action.

"What do you want Morgan?" came out quietly from Sam.

"Just wondering what you were doing is all. This isn't how most of the team decompresses." was his casual comment as he again noted the obliterated circle of paper in the center of the target.

"It's pretty simple Agent Morgan. I just spent the last three days trying to get women to relive the worst moments of their lives, trying to make them recall the smallest details without making them feel like they are being violated all over again. I got to listen to the same story over and over and over and with each story get a little clearer picture of just how sick that son of a bitch is. Now, I have to let it out before it drives me insane. So, either I do this to decompress or I could drink. Trust me, my liver would greatly prefer I do this."

Morgan shrugged as he replaced the fourth target. "And you use two different guns because?"

"What's the matter Morgan, I'm not supposed to be comfortable with my backup piece? I know Hotch carries a second on him on his right ankle. You can see the holster when he moves just right. I keep a spare with my rifles or occasionally on me if we are going into the field and I'm worried I'll need it. You, however, are that confident that you can just tackle every suspect, huh?"

"There's no need to get snippy, even if you are stressed." Morgan added putting on a pair of shooting glasses and settling on ear protection before sending out the target in lane four. He called the range hot and saw Sam pull up her ear protection as he unholstered his weapon and began to fire. He emptied the clip before dropping it, pulling his spare clip, reloading the weapon, and emptying that one too. Removing his ear protection he drew in the target. The grouping was good enough that he would easily pass if this was a qualification but he just couldn't do what Sam could and cut a neat little hole in the target. Wanting to break the ice he grinned and added "I guess you're right. Sometimes it just feels good to shoot something."

"I knew you'd see it my way Morgan." she said returning his grin with a smile of her own. "Wanna go again?"

Morgan took a second to consider this. "Turn the music up. You take the first four lanes, I'll take the last two."

They stayed at the range for almost an hour. A strange camaraderie was formed and Morgan began to understand more about the woman who was shooting next to him.

*AN - I am amazed that people are finding this story and alerting it and favoriting it. Thank you so very much. ~MM*


	10. Chapter 10

*AN – Not my sandbox, I'm just playing in it.*

Chapter 10

The days began to flow into weeks and the team adjusted and accepted its newest member. Finally, a full weekend off came. Early morning found Sam already working in her garage. The hood of her car was up, she was up to her elbows in engine grease, the music was loud, and the whiskey had already begun to flow. She just had to wait for Eric to arrive and help her set the timing of the engine she had finally installed in the vintage Charger. The sounds of an approaching motorcycle surprised her. The timber was off. Hearing footsteps on the concrete she called out "You changed the pipes on your bike and didn't tell me?"

Warrick barked. 'What the hell?' she thought. 'Warrick knows Eric. Usually he would damn near knock him over with the exuberance of his greeting.' Suddenly concerned she picked up the torque wrench she had set aside and spun around. What she wasn't prepared for was to see Derek Morgan standing in the open door of her garage casting a wary gaze at her dog.

Warrick made a low whining sound in his throat. Derek had stopped and was waiting to see what the dog would do before he tried to come any farther into the garage. 'Should have figured she'd have a damn pit bull' was what was going through his head.

Lowering the torque wrench she grabbed the remote for the stereo, turning down the volume to where a conversation could be comfortably had. "Warrick, say hello." was the brisk command to the dog.

Warrick approached Derek slowly, tail straight out and ears up. His human had told him to say hello but he didn't like the sudden tension that his human and this one were creating. After sniffing the man's pant leg and determining that he had a dog of his own he gave his tail a single wag before looking back at his human for approval.

Derek read the dog's body language and admitted that it was probably the same thing Clooney would do. If Derek wasn't completely at ease around someone then Clooney wasn't either. At least she put the torque wrench down. He held his hand out for the dog to sniff before taking a knee and rubbing his ears while trying to figure out how to break the news to Warrick's owner that they had been called in.

Sam walked across the garage to the workbench where the open bottle of Jack Daniels sat before refilling a glass and draining it in a quick swallow. 'What the hell is he doing here?' she thought to herself. 'We are on stand down this weekend and Rothschild's team is supposed to be on call. Today was going to be my day to kick back with my best friend and sort out all of the crazy ideas floating around in my head about one Derek Morgan.'

Morgan took the time greeting Warrick to get his own head on straight. He hadn't expected to walk up and see his newest team member in a wife-beater tank top and worn jeans that left nothing to the imagination. Seeing her bent over the engine of the muscle car had almost been enough to give him a heart attack. When she turned he could clearly see the outline of the red lace bra she wore through the thin material of the top. Her hair was pulled into a messy pony tail and he could see a set of military dog tags hanging around her neck. Hell, even the engine grease only added to the appeal. She knew her way around an engine, knew how to take care of herself and after years of dating very girly women, the idea of a woman who could take charge of any situation was a turn-on. He was surprised to see her down a double of Jack like it was as easy as breathing. Whiskey was not what the women he was with usually drank and he wondered what it might taste like on her tongue. And, as much as he wanted to find out more details about her life outside of the BAU, he reminded himself that they had a case. "You may want to stop at that one." he cautioned.

"What Agent Morgan? Afraid I am gonna pinch my finger and give myself a boo-boo working on my car or are you worried that I will damage the engine working on it drunk?"

"We have a case. I just got the call; we go wheels up in 45 minutes. Hotch asked me to come by and tell you in person."

Sam was stunned. "What happened to being on stand-down?"

Morgan shrugged as he stood up chuckling as her dog shot him a disappointed look. "The on call team is already there and they need us. So, we go."

"Shit." was what came out of the agent's mouth. "Lemme make a call and cancel my plans. Then we can head out."

Morgan watched as she headed over to the sink tucked in the corner of the garage and began to scrub the grease away. Part of him was terrified she would accidently get that tank top wet and the other half of him was praying that she would. "Just grab your go bag and I will give you a ride. You may be legally sober but you gotta be buzzed. I'm not about to let you drive like that."

"Morgan, I heard you pull up on your bike." was the beginning of her argument.

Morgan just grinned. "And? You ride; you're not afraid of a big, bad bike. It even has bitch seat. Granted, you will have to hold on to me, but…"

He was trying to bait her and Sam decided to let that one pass. "So, you, me, your go bag and my go bag are just gonna roll into the BAU on your bike?" was the doubting reply from Sam. 'That is so ridiculous. I should just call a cab' was her thought.

"Jesus, no." was the reply from Morgan thinking about how much it would look like a clown car if they were to try that. "I live in the next neighborhood over. We'll quick swing by my place to grab my bag and exchange my bike for my car. Then we'll head out."

Sam took a minute to try and not think about sitting behind Morgan on a bike before realizing he was offering her an acceptable solution to her problem. She was an FBI agent, she really shouldn't drive buzzed, and the Jack would hit in about twenty minutes. "Damn you for being right Derek Morgan. Come in while I grab a coat and make some calls. We can roll in five."

Derek followed her and her dog into the kitchen of her house. He watched her pull her leather jacket and motorcycle helmet out of a coat closet. She quickly called her Uncle Chuck to come get her dog as she gathered her cell phone charger, tablet, and iPod. She called Eric and apologized for having to cancel on him and explained that she was getting ready to walk out the door and go out on a case. Derek looked around her kitchen and living room while she spoke, leaning up against the kitchen counters casually. He didn't want to pry but willingly took advantage of seeing a side of Sam he had never been allowed to before. He appreciated the dark, earthy tones of her house. It was clean cut and comfortable but still casual and homey. The kitchen was huge and kitchen implements were everywhere. A pot of stew was even simmering on the stove and a loaf bread dough was rising on the cupboard.

Sam quickly hung up before walking to the stove and turning it off. She slid the pot into the fridge and wrapped the rising bread dough in plastic wrap before sliding it in the freezer. She pulled on her coat and grabbed her helmet and electronics before motioning him out into the garage. Grabbing her go bag out of the back of her SUV she settled her things inside, shortened the strap so that the duffle would stay close to her back, and slung it across her body. They exited through the access door and walked to Derek's bike.

Sam took a moment to take in the bike. "Why am I not surprised you ride a V Rod?"

"Why am I not surprised you know your Harleys?" he shot right back. "The V Rod is the best of both worlds Princess. It's classic Harley with a street edge. Now get your helmet on, climb aboard, and lets go." he added as he pulled on his own helmet and zipped up his jacket.

Sam easily climbed on behind Derek and wrapped her arms around his waist. She felt the Jack kicking in and relaxing her and she leaned into him as the bike started to roll. She decided since her getting Derek out of her brain was denied to her she was going to enjoy the forced contact for as long as it lasted.

Morgan was enjoying having Sam with him on his bike and decided the ride to his house was almost too short. He debated going the long way just to keep her arms wrapped around him for a little while longer. If only they didn't have a case! He knew he had to be responsible, but he just appreciated the soft form snuggled trustingly behind him. Sam moved with him almost intuitively as he rode, staying with him as he leaned into turns, keeping her arms in a firm grasp around his middle, never panicking, never grabbing, just flowing with the motion of him and the bike. He had to force himself not to wonder if she would move as intuitively with him in other motions.

He pulled the bike into his garage and they both pulled off their helmets. Morgan unlocked his SUV and Sam settled her bag and helmet in the back. Morgan took the time to run over to his neighbors and drop off Clooney before climbing into the driver seat and backing out of the garage. As they began to drive, Derek took the opportunity to ask "Why a Charger? And what year is it anyway?"

Sam laughed softly. "She's a '69 R/T with a 440 Magnum engine. As to why I am restoring a Charger, it's because it belonged to someone I was very close to and he didn't get to finish the project so I am. God, he was nuts about that damn car. He never did settle on a name for her though."

Morgan took that in for a minute. "So, how close is she to being done?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Is it an acceptable answer to say not nearly close enough?" she said drolly. Taking in the look Morgan shot her out of the corner of his eye she continued. "Engine needs to have a few things finished up. All the gages are in. She needs painted. And she needs an interior so I'm getting close. You don't happen to know a good auto upholsterer, do you?"

Morgan smirked. "I have a few friends who are car guys. I'll ask around. How long have you been at it?"

"Just about three years." was the quiet reply.

"What condition was it in when you got it? It looks like you've done a hell of a lot of work."

"Yeah, well, I lived in the desert and didn't go out much. When I wasn't at work I was pretty much in my garage working on that car. She was rough when we towed her home; just a rusted out body sitting on a frame. But the frame was straight and the engine hadn't seized so we took a shot on her. We took her apart piece by piece all the way down to the frame and I built her back up again the same way. The engine overhaul was as much a labor of love as all the body work. She's a rolling chassis right now. Gimme a few more months and she will be purring down the road.

"You know, most car guys I know are just that … guys." Morgan remarked drolly. "I've never seen a woman who cared as much cars and bikes as you do."

Sam shot him a look. "Don't be sexist Morgan. I have a not so secret love affair with the internal combustion engine. And trust me, when I get her done she'll take your breath away."

Morgan stayed silent in his thoughts as they continued the drive. He had a feeling the car wasn't the only thing that would be taking his breath away.

*AN - Nope, not done torturing Morgan yet. I'm just not gonna let him off that easy. More aggravation in upcoming chapters. ~ MM*


	11. Chapter 11

*AN – I keep wishing but I still don't own any part of Criminal Minds*

Chapter 11

Derek and Sam were the last ones to arrive. Even Garcia had made it to the airstrip before them. Hotch and Rossi were waiting on the steps of the jet. They were surprised when they saw the pair of agents climb out of Derek's SUV together. When the call had gone out, Hotch had asked Derek to speak to Sam and tell her they were getting called out but had not divulged details about the case. He wanted to brief team with all members present. He had overheard she had had plans for this weekend and since they were on stand down plans shouldn't have been a problem. Except that they were going to need her to pull this off. Rothschild's team had managed to work up a profile for the Unsub but had been unable to catch him. They needed to send in agents as bait and the Unsub had a very specific type of woman he liked to target. And, unfortunately for them, his preferred target looked just like Sam. They could exchange the male undercover for several of the agents on either team but it was important that their newest team member play the other half.

The jet was quickly closed up and, once airborne, Hotch started the briefing. "We are going to San Antonio, Texas to join up with SSAIC Rothschild and his team where they are looking for a serial killer targeting couples. They expect him to be a white male who is thirty to forty years of age, nondescript, and functionally invisible in a crowd. He will have a steady job which is why the killings are occurring at night between the hours of eight and eleven. They anticipate that his wife or girlfriend has recently left him or he has had some other very personal stressor. They also anticipate that he has deep seated personal issues with a woman who looks like his victims. He is becoming bolder. A geographic profile shows that his kills are moving closer and closer to a bar called the Hang Dog. Reviews of the surveillance tapes have shown that all of the victims have been in that bar the night they were killed. Rothschild's team has had agents inside that bar on two of the nights when killings occurred and they have been unable to locate let alone stop our Unsub. So, we will be sending in a pair of agents undercover to attempt to lure him out."

Hotch nodded to Garcia. She quickly sent copies of the case file to each of the team's tablets while Hotch handed a paper copy of the file to Reid. As the team began to page through the case file, one by one they became very quiet.

Morgan finally broke the tension. "Hotch, is this why they called us in instead of any other team?" he asked, a tremor of restrained anger underlying the rich tone of his voice.

Hotch took a deep breath. "They wanted a second team in place since they were sending undercover agents in. And, technically, any team could have worked this assignment…"

Hotch was quickly cut off. "Except that all of these women look remarkably like me." Sam flatly stated the obvious.

Hotch was quiet for a moment, examining his agent's poker face and wondering exactly what was going through her head. Except for the pulse that began to flutter faster and stronger in her neck you couldn't see a change in her at all as she digested the information.

Sam took a deep breath before looking at her Unit Chief. "My similarity to these victims is why we got called in and I can accept that. But Hotch, you could have just sent me. You didn't have to ruin the entire team's weekend."

Hotch leveled his gaze at his newest agent. "We are a team, Agent Ryan. I know you're good, but there is no way that I am going to use you as bait without the rest of us watching your back and that's final."

Rossi felt the need to interject. "Now that that's settled, what's the plan? Who goes in with Sam?"

Morgan quickly interjected. "That's easy. I spent time in deep cover while on the Chicago PD. I go."

Hotch should have been surprised at his agent's willingness, but he had been paying too much attention to the interactions between Derek and his newest agent to be surprised. "Derek that is a generous offer but look at the victimology. Out of all of the couples killed there hasn't been a single interracial couple. All victims have been Caucasian. And, there has been an age gap. The female victims range from twenty three to thirty one. The youngest male victim was forty two. We need to send in an older male with Sam."

"I'll do it." came quietly from Rossi. When the team turned to look at him in disbelief he simply continued. "This offender's age preference shows that it would have to be me, Hotch or Agent Rothschild himself in with Sam. I prefer not to have either Unit Chief undercover unless we have to. That simply leaves me."

Hotch took this in for a moment. "Now that that is settled we can continue to plan. Garcia, link up a video conference with Rothschild's team. We have three hours until we land in Texas. Let's make the most of it."

*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*

The flight passed quickly. The team was met at the airport by members of the San Antonio field office who passed off the keys to a pair of SUV's. They headed to the San Antonio Police Department where Rothschild's team had been working out of. Introductions were brief before the team divided. Morgan went to walk through the neighborhood with Anna Wood and Adam Banks who were the members of Rothschild's team that had deduced the geographical profile. Prentiss, JJ, and Rossi went with Fairbanks and Smithe from Rothschild's team to review victimology. Hotch and Rothschild sat down with the leaders of two San Antonio SWAT teams to discuss possible takedown scenarios. Before closeting himself in with SWAT, Hotch ordered Garcia and Reid to take Sam shopping for an appropriate outfit to entice the Unsub.

"Why me?" Reid protested.

Hotch chuckled dryly. "Because you have an eidetic memory and will be able to recall all of the photos from the case file without having to take said case file out in public and scaring anyone. With you along Garcia is sure to come up with something perfect. Just remember, you get the final say as to if it flows with what will be enticing to our Unsub."

Garcia happily linked arms with the two groaning agents. "Come on guys, it'll be fun!" she exclaimed.

Sam looked over Penelope's head at Reid. "Dr. Reid, you pick anything too outrageous and I will make you kiss the mats repeatedly the next time we have a mandatory sparring session. Do you understand?"

Reid looked suddenly concerned. "Deal." was his quick response.

*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*

They went through a few stores with Sam feeling like a dress up doll in a tug of war while Reid and Garcia bickered. Finally, she had it. While they argued she put two fingers in her mouth and sharply whistled. Both immediately stopped and turned to her in shock. "I'm done! Now, while I sit here and cool off, you two walk through the store, pick a dress, and bring it back for me to try on. You have ten minutes and a single objective. Work together. Go." was the brisk order.

Garcia and Reid looked at each other before wordlessly walking off. They rapidly and systematically went through the racks before Garcia held up a dress. Reid cocked his head to the side and pondered. He was no expert in fashion but it looked like it fit their criteria. He shrugged and they headed back to Sam.

Sam still hadn't cooled down. She snatched the dress out of Garcia's hand before stomping into the dressing room. She couldn't believe Hotch! Sending her with Reid and Garcia was like playing referee at a thirteen year old's slumber party. Shimmying out of her own clothes she pulled the dress on without thought, reaching behind herself before awkwardly spinning in a circle to manage to zip it up without assistance. Still fuming she stomped back out to where Garcia and Reid were waiting. "Well?" was the irritated reply.

Neither Garcia nor Reid spoke. Sam was not amused. "Is it that bad?" she asked.

Garcia cleared her throat. "Sugarplum, have you looked in the mirror yet?"

"No." was the simple reply.

Garcia merely made a twirling motion with her hand, indicating that Sam should turn around and face the full length mirror. Still impatient, she quickly did as indicated.

Sam gasped when she saw herself in the mirror. She knew the dress was fitted but it was almost a second skin. The emerald color set off her hair and made her skin look richly ivory. Her curves were accented and it was almost indecently short and low cut. Sam stood with her mouth slightly hanging open as Reid and Garcia walked up on either side of her.

"That's it." was Reid's simple comment as his eyes ran up and down his teammate in the mirror.

Garcia had her hands clasped together under her chin and was almost vibrating in an attempt to keep from jumping up and down. "Sweetie, you're stunning!"

Sam finally regained her wits. "I don't think I can bend down in this dress without something falling out." she stated flatly.

Garcia chuckled. "So? If you drop anything just ask Rossi to pick it up for you."

"No." Sam started to shake her head to the negative. "No, no, no, no, no…"

"Yes." Reid stated firmly. "You're bait. He won't be able to resist you. We're buying the dress."

Sam was still stuttering as Garcia pushed her back to the dressing rooms. "Get your ass-kicking, boring, FBI agent clothes back on and get out here. We still need to get shoes and a purse and everything else. And hurry." came the order from the tech kitten.

*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*

Arriving back at the station laden with bags Sam shot Hotch a look that would have wilted a lesser man. "I take it you found what you were looking for?" was his simple comment to his agents.

"Answer me this Hotch," Sam demanded as she approached her Unit Chief. "Are you a closet sadist?"

Hotch permitted himself the ghost of a smile. "You found it then. Good, we brief in five."

Derek and Rossi watched their youngest team member stride through the station with shopping bags in hand, back ramrod straight, fury radiating from her in waves. Rossi couldn't help the chuckle that spilled from his lips. "Guess she's finally living up to her hair color." was all he got out before evaporating into laughter and grasping Derek's shoulder to hold himself up. Hotch could no longer hold it in as Rossi lost it and, in a very uncharacteristic move, joined in the laughter before catching the look on Derek's face and trying to regain his composure behind a faked cough.

Derek looked from Hotch to Rossi as they tried to regain straight faces. He was amazed at their bravery, or their stupidity; however you chose to look at it. He wasn't dumb enough to laugh at Sam when she was obviously pissed. And right now that woman was positively on fire.

*AN – Just wait…. Rossi and Sam pretending to be a couple? I sense trouble… ~MM*


	12. Chapter 12

*AN – Nope, I checked, I still don't own or profit from Criminal Minds.*

*AN Part 2 – Just to be safe I am going to up the rating of this story to M for an implied situation in this chapter. And, maybe for situations that may happen after this too. I am just way too chicken about getting my account suspended for having this under rated. ~MM*

Chapter 12

The profile was presented again and the teams briefed SWAT as Garcia set up her mobile babies and hooked into the bar's security system. After a quick dinner Sam and Rossi slipped into the precinct's locker rooms to get ready. Emily and JJ went with Sam to try and keep her calm about the situation. Both women were not expecting to see what they saw when Sam walked out into the middle of the locker room in that dress.

"I see what Reid meant when he said that there is no way that the Unsub is gonna miss you in that. Jesus, we practically have the Bat Signal shinning directly on you." came from Emily.

JJ could see Sam's unease. "Sit, we'll take care of your hair and makeup. Just sit." she urged.

"I don't think I can sit in this dress!" Sam almost wailed.

Emily smirked. "Sure you can, just do it carefully." she urged trying to soothe the uncharacteristically nervous agent.

JJ and Emily were both efficient and talented. Quickly her hair was lightly curled and tousled. Her makeup was applied to draw attention to her eyes and lips. Heels that would make a ballerina quake were slid into. When Sam strode out of the locker room and back into the bullpen to meet with the combined teams the room went silent. You could actually hear the pen that hit the floor when it fell from a rookie's hands. Even Rossi was rendered speechless and motionless.

Sam made it all the way across the bullpen to her team without anyone making a sound. Finally, fed up, she stomped one heeled foot. "You all remember that I am trained to an advanced level in hand to hand combat and hold qualification as a FBI marksman, right?" was grated out from between clenched teeth.

Throats were cleared, papers were shuffled, and suddenly every member present of the SAPD seemed otherwise occupied with urgent business.

Hotch was the first to recover and addressed the SWAT leaders as well as the two BAU teams. "Rossi and Ryan you will be driving to the Hang Dog just after 8 pm. We want our Unsub to be there first and be sizing up couples looking for his next victim. We want you to be noticed as soon as you enter and we want the Unsub to focus on you two specifically."

"That won't be hard." Rothschild added under his breath before catching Sam's gaze and deciding to keep his mouth shut. He did not envy the fallout that Hotchner was gonna have to deal with from his newest team member.

Hotch shot the other Unit Chief a look. "You will be portraying a couple with an unbalance of power in the relationship. I hate to use the term sugar daddy but you get the point. Rossi, you're with her for sex. Ryan, you're with him for money. Keep it straight forward, flirty, and noticeable. Then, lure him to a secluded spot and we take him down. You will not be carrying your firearms. Rossi, make sure you have both sets of credentials hidden on you since it doesn't look like Ryan has anywhere to keep hers and I don't want it being flashed if she digs something out of her purse. You will both be wearing earwigs to keep you in contact with the rest of the teams. SWAT will be down half a block each way holding and waiting to see if we need them. The BAU teams will be on point for the takedown. This will be especially important if this becomes a hostage situation. Everybody keep their heads on straight and think before you act. Let's get our gear. We roll in twenty."

Ryan handed her credentials to Rossi and noticed that he slid them in alongside his in the inside pocket of his jacket. They handed their Glocks to Hotch and accepted their new ID's from Garcia. Earwigs were passed out and frequencies were tested. Sam had just leaned over the table Penelope had set up at to pick up her earwig when she heard "Damn, is that how you get out of a solicitation charge, give a few favors to the FBI guys? Vice is down the hall honey." was spit out at her before feeling a hand slap her hard across the ass.

The frustration she had about her aborted conversation with her best friend, the simmering anger at playing referee to Garcia and Reid's bickering, and her outright discomfort at being in that indecent dress in the first place came to a head. Sam whirled, grabbed the offending hand, and flipped the owner of it before anyone else could react pinning him to the ground with her heel digging into the base of his neck and his arm pulled almost straight out behind him. She had his thumb bent back so far that she briefly wondered if she dislocated it. "Supervisory Special Agent Ryan FB fucking I. And just who the hell do you think you are?" was snapped out as the arm was torqued further back and more pressure was applied with her foot.

"I'm a cop, you can't do this!" was shrieked from the floor as Sam simply put more downward pressure with her foot and more torque on his thumb.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't arrest you for the assault of a federal agent." was Hotch's steely answer. Sam was surprised. In her anger she had forgotten she was surrounded by team members. Looking up she saw that every member of the two BAU teams had drawn their service weapons and had them pointed at the man on the floor while Garcia had picked up a stapler and was ready to throw it at him.

The standoff was broken by the SAPD Chief striding into the bullpen. "Damn it Officer Mitchell, my office, NOW!" was barked out.

Sam let go and took a step back to stand between Morgan and JJ as she watched the patrol officer groan and try to pick himself up off the floor. He wasn't even smart enough to keep his mouth shut long enough to get to his Chief's office and started to bitch about the unfair treatment as he walked across the bullpen. The slamming of the door behind him by the chief was almost music to Sam's ears.

The BAU teams holstered their weapons but an undercurrent of tension remained until one of the SWAT leaders felt the need to step in. "Sorry about him. Mitchell tends to show the worst SAPD has to offer instead of the best. That's why after almost five years he is still just a patrol officer. The Chief is constantly on his ass. We get the impression that he just hasn't figured out how to fire the bastard without a lawsuit yet."

Hotch gave quick nod in acknowledgement before turning back to the BAU teams. "Garcia, final frequency checks please." The communications devices were quickly run through before he turned to his youngest team member. "Ryan, I understand your anger. But try to leave the profanity out of your identification." Hotch said dryly.

"Yes sir." was her quick and quiet reply.

"Let's load up."

The drive to the Hang Dog took just under half an hour. Rossi parked their borrowed car half way down the block. They saw the SWAT vehicle slide into an alley behind them and watched the SUV's containing the rest of the BAU Alpha team park a several doors down and across from the bar. Rothschild's team was going to be at the opposite end of the block waiting as well.

"All right bella, everybody's here, let's go." came from Rossi as he got out of the car and walked around to Sam's side before opening the door and offering his hand.

With a deep breath she allowed herself to be pulled out of the car and to her feet while she willed her heartbeat to slow. "Remember I'm in ridiculous shoes Dave. Don't walk too fast." she said as she snuggled under his arm and they made their way towards the bar.

As they passed their teammates in the SUV Sam could almost feel the eyes upon them. She tried to take comfort in the fact that they were close. She would bet Morgan and JJ could be in that bar in thirty seconds if they had to be.

Hotch watched the street as his agents strolled past. They looked like a couple and both of their body languages read that Rossi had the power in the relationship. The way he had his arm draped possessively over Sam's shoulder and the way she was tucked up next to him was convincing. "Good body language, keep it up in the bar. Let Dave lead. Sam, remember to flirt and Dave remember to respond. Be interested in each other. You two have to catch his attention and hold it long enough to lure him out." Hotch reminded his agents over their earwigs before turning to look at the agent sitting next to him.

Morgan was looking at the retreating forms of their teammates and his expression told Hotch that he was reading only one of their body languages. Hotch knew if he verbally chastised Morgan for ogling Sam she would lose it. Instead he reached over and smacked his second-in-command in the shoulder before pointing to his own eyes and then pointing up.

JJ struggled to keep a straight face from the back seat. It wasn't every day that Morgan had to be told to keep his eyes up. She just didn't want to distract her teammates at the wrong time.

Sam and Rossi walked in and quickly scanned the room. They settled at a high table in the corner by the entrance. "What would you like to drink bella?" Dave asked turning Sam so she was facing him in his arms.

"Martini, extra dry, extra dirty, extra olives." Sam purred as she toyed with the buttons on his shirt and glanced up at him from under her lashes.

Dave let his hand ghost across her ass as he walked away and headed to the bar. He knew that most men would wait until a woman was alone to approach her and he wanted to make it known that she was taken.

Sam leaned against the high table. She didn't think she could hop up into one of the high stools without showing off more than she wanted to. Besides, leaning forward with her elbows on the table and one heeled foot crossed at the ankle behind the other showed off all of her 'assets' so to speak to their best advantage. She allowed her eyes to follow Dave's retreating figure to the bar while trying not to laugh over Emily's bat signal analogy. She toyed with a lock of hair and let her eyes wander slowly over the room as she waited for Dave.

Dave returned and handed her the dirty martini before taking a sip of his own scotch and settling into a stool with his back to the corner. Sam moved to stand between his knees and leaned back so that the small of her back leaned against one of his knees. This gave her a perpendicular view of the room to Rossi. "See anything you like?" was his easy conversation starter.

Sam giggled and pulled the toothpick of olives out of her martini. Seductively running one over her bottom lip before she wrapped her lips around it and sucked it off the toothpick she turned to face Rossi. Indicating a group of men at her three o'clock with the toothpick she cooed "Nothing I like as well as you baby." before dropping the olives back into her drink and licking her thumb, indicating a man in the far corner of the bar with a flick of her hand as she pulled the thumb out of her mouth. She flipped her hair with her other hand indicating a man playing pool behind her.

Dave let his hand wonder low on her hip as he pulled her in to whisper in her ear. "I agree bella, now let's watch for a few minutes and see where it leads."

Sam began to move slowly to the rich southern rock pouring from the juke box. Dave pulled her hair to the side and leaned in to nuzzle the back of her neck, allowing him to turn his head and scope out the man in the corner. He was off, just slightly out of place, his behavior just a bit too tense. Sam turned in Dave's arms and rechecked the man behind her. He seemed like your typical angry drunk but not a homicidal angry drunk. What worried her most was the group of men sizing them up from across the bar. They looked like they were trying to decide what to do about them. She took a sip of her martini before leaning in to press her lips to his, giving her an excuse to kiss up his jaw and position herself next to his earwig. "Garcia, you with me?" was her question as Dave's hands began to play across her hips.

"I see you. What do you need pumpkin?" was the bright reply.

"Group of men to my six, lone white male, medium build, leather jacket to my two thirty, and Hispanic pool player in the Astros t-shirt and baseball cap to my eight o'clock. Who are they?"

"On it, back in a flash." was the reply from their technical analyst.

Dave and Sam continued to flirt, to touch, and steal little kisses as they waited for their analyst to come back. Soon Garcia was back to speaking in their ears. "Your Astros fan is Marco Esperanza, history of petty theft and one assault in the third degree. Your group of thugs is just that, a gang of local thugs with convictions in everything from auto theft to drugs to assault; one of them has even been charged with pimping. Leather jacket however, I am having a hard time finding info on."

Sam and Dave continued to monitor the room. Sam didn't like the feeling she was getting off of the group in the corner. She leaned in again and whispered to Dave as he again pulled her close. "Rossi, I don't know about you, but would like to get out of this situation with both my own skin and an Unsub in custody."

"What did you have in mind bella?" he whispered back at her.

"Do you trust me?" was the question from the younger agent as she pulled back to look in Rossi's eyes.

"With my life bella." was the calm reply.

Sam's eyes steeled. "Follow me." she said, grabbing his hand and leading him down a short hallway to an unused bathroom before pulling him in. Sam led him over to the sinks in front of the mirrors. "Hotch, you with me?" was Sam's question into her earwig as they walked.

"We hear you. What's the plan?"

Sam took a deep breath. "I don't like that group of men giving us the eyeball from the north east corner of the bar. They suspect a raid and they are gonna hassle us because they think we are Vice or Narc. So, Rossi and I will give them a little show. Trust me, they will lose interest and head back out but our Unsub won't. He will wait until they are gone and we seem occupied and then he will make his move. We take him down quietly, you come in through the back, and we hand him off to you. We mingle with the crowd and slip out while you all drag him out of here in as high of profile fashion as you can. We'll grab the car and meet you back at the station."

"Just what kind of a show are we putting on?" was Rossi's question.

"You're the FBI Playboy Extraordinaire and the reason for the fraternization rules. Follow my lead, you'll be fine. Hotch, I hear people outside the door, you guys ready to move in on our mark?"

"I'm trusting you Agent Ryan. We hold until you call."

With that Sam hopped up to sit on the edge of one of the sinks grabbing Rossi's lapel and pulling him in between her knees. "Quick ground rules. You can unzip the dress but I'm not wearing a bra so don't pull it down past my shoulders. Time to put to all the tricks you learned in your younger days to use Agent Rossi."

Rossi couldn't believe it. This was her plan? A steamy make out session in the bathroom of the bar? Making that group of hooligans think that the old man was reclaiming his youth by getting some action with an obviously younger woman? He knew that they were going to walk in any minute and that there were six of them and to just him and Sam. Even if the team came in they would still get hurt before they were rescued. And they would lose the Unsub. "Here goes nothing bella." was his only comment before slipping a hand in her hair and purposefully tipping her head back. He wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her hips flush with his before devouring her lips in a deep kiss.

Sam moaned. It had been forever since she had been kissed like this and she was surprised by the passion displayed by the older agent. She heard the door open. Time to sell it, she thought. Tearing her lips away from Rossi's she threw her head back and groaned, bringing her calves up to wrap around the small of his back. Rossi's lips trailed down her neck to the top swells of her breasts. "Yes, God yes." she moaned threading her fingers into his hair and holding his head to her.

*AN – Yes, I'm sorry. It's a cliffhanger. If I would have posted the entire original chapter without breaking it up it just would have been way too long. Please don't hate me. The saga continues soon. ~MM*


	13. Chapter 13

*AN - All standard disclaimers apply. Don't own, don't profit, wish I did. And to those who called me mean for ending the previous chapter where I did, I hope this makes it up to you. ~MM*

Chapter 13

Morgan couldn't believe his ears. Both BAU teams had exited their SUV's and were in position to move in through the back door of the bar. He looked at Hotch. "Tell me that what I think is going on isn't going on." he almost demanded of the senior agent as Emily, JJ, and Reid tried to avoid making eye contact with the irritated man.

Hotch looked almost sheepishly at Morgan. He could imagine exactly what was going on from the sound effects they were getting over their earpieces. He knew David Rossi back in his younger and wilder days. He didn't really think the older man was finding it too terribly taxing to be forced to partake of the company of the woman he presumed was now in his arms. "I assume that your fellow agents are doing exactly what they need to do to diffuse the situation." he said with his stoic Hotchner expression firmly back in place.

Morgan swore. He just didn't want to deal with what he was hearing and what he was picturing. He wanted to rip his damn earpiece out and step on it but he knew that if Rossi or Ryan called for help he was gonna be the first one through that door. 'Suck it up and deal Morgan, it's not like she's yours.' was the chastising he gave himself in his own head as he eagerly waited for the opportunity to vent his frustrations on a suspect who, with any luck, would resist arrest.

*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*

Sam and Rossi monitored the bathroom from their positions. Sam was able to sneak peeks over Rossi's shoulder as he went from one side of her neck to the other. Rossi was able to sneak peeks in the mirror over Sam's shoulder and see the scene in reverse. Six men crowded in the open doorway. Sam was right; they were the group from the table. They seemed undecided on what to do. Finally, their apparent leader cracked a grin and nodded to his followers. The men slid back out to the bar deciding to let the old man get a little.

Sam gulped in a breath in relief. They weren't about to have to take on those men and lose the Unsub. Time to step things up and lure him in. She knew he was in the bar. She knew he had seen her drag Rossi away. She also knew he was smart, that he wouldn't make a move until he was sure they were occupied. All the other couples he had attacked outside of the bar. He killed couples in the alley, the nearby park, one pair in their car, and finally the last pair he murdered in the nearest bus stop. He was escalating, moving to more public places and more public killings and killing more frequently. Attacking the pair physically in the bar itself should be the culmination of his fantasies. If they could just get him in the room and wait for him to make a move they would be able to arrest him. Forensics would link him to the other crimes and he wouldn't be able to hurt anybody else. She leaned over to Rossi's ear that didn't have the earwig in. "Time to sell it Dave. Let's get him to walk in here."

Rossi chuckled lightly against her neck before giving an exaggerated and almost theatrical groan. "Oh, bella, just like that."

Sam almost chuckled and whispered back. "I know men, unlike women, don't usually have to fake orgasms, but that was pathetic. Seriously Rossi? Don't you of all people have personal experience to draw from?"

Rossi chuckled under his breath before adjusting Sam in his arms and bucking his hips into her hard enough to make the sink move against the wall. Sam just gasped suddenly worried that she would be losing her seat. "Like that bella?" was Rossi's breathless question "Like that?"

Sam heard the door before she saw it begin to open. "Just like that baby." she panted. "Just like that."

Rossi saw the door begin to open from his backward mirror view. He knew that they had to keep the man interested, inflamed almost. Convince him to attack in public. He began to slide the zipper down on the back of Sam's dress with one hand while beginning to inch up her skirt with the other. Leaning in her ear he coached her. "Pretend to open my pants. He has to think that we are going to do it or he won't feel safe enough to attack."

Sam untangled her right hand from where it had nested in Dave's hair. She molded her lips to his as she ran her hand down the front of his body before hooking her fingers in the waistband of his slacks and pulling slightly, mimicking the actions of undoing his belt and zipper before pretending to slip her hand inside. "Oh, baby, so hard, so good." she moaned.

"Bella, bella," Rossi breathed back. "Oh God, don't stop!" he moaned. "More baby, get me ready for you."

Sam noticed that the man they had pegged from the corner of the bar was fully in the room. He was emitting an almost nervous energy, licking his lips and slowly creeping towards the pair of agents.

Rossi had glanced again in the mirror. The man was still too far away to quietly take down. "Ready bella?" was his question as he pulled back to look into Sam's eyes. The take down was going to happen quickly, and he wanted Sam to be in step with him.

"Yes baby, yes!" Sam moaned back. As Rossi pretended to thrust into her she saw the Unsub take a quick step. Placing a hand on the back of Rossi's neck, she used the leverage to pivot off of the sink and behind Rossi. Using her momentum she grabbed the Unsub by his outstretched arm and jerked him to the ground, coming around him to pin her knee to the back of his neck. Rossi had followed her lead and was cuffing the man even as "FBI – Freeze and don't make a sound!" was being hissed out by his partner.

Sam looked at Rossi. They pulled it off. Adrenaline coursing, she called out softly to Hotch. "Send in the troops Hotch, but quietly. Single file through the back. As soon as someone is here to take custody we need to slip back out to the bar and work on getting out of here. We pull our badges and try to exit with you there will be a scene."

"Moving in now." was the clipped reply from Hotch as Rossi read the suspect his rights.

Rossi looked at Sam. "You might want to take care of your dress." came out with a chuckle.

Sam blushed. She realized that the back of her dress was still unzipped and she wasn't willing to give up her position of control over their suspect to take care of it. "Would you be so kind?" was her reply.

Rossi stepped behind her and quickly zipped her up. Before he even had a chance to remove his hands, Morgan and Hotch came through the door with weapons up looking to clear the room.

Morgan shot both of them a look. If Rossi read it correctly, the man was on fire about what he and Sam had pulled off. He wasn't going to bring it up now, but he was willing to bet quite a bit that Morgan would soon be putting in a long workout to try and burn off the anger running through his veins.

"Agents Morgan, Hotchner; if you would take custody of our suspect, we would like to make our exit." Sam waited until Morgan had a firm grip on the suspect's elbow before letting up with her knee and allowing Dave to pull her to her feet. "Let's get out of here Dave."

"Take care of yourselves. See you back at the station." was the clipped reply from their unit chief.

Sam and Rossi slipped out the door of the bathroom as JJ, Emily, and Reid slipped in. They were at the end of the hall by the time the first half of Rothschild's team was entering the room. It looked like Hotch really had called in the troops to distract from their exit.

Rossi grabbed Sam's hand and was ready to just walk out of the hallway. She quickly pulled him back.

"No, we need a distraction. Remember, in that gaggle of thugs minds we have to not be anyhow connected to law enforcement. If they think we are Hotch and the rest will have a hell of a time getting out of here. But, if they publicly drag just the Unsub out, those boys won't give us or the teams any trouble. Hang on." She pulled one side of her skirt up just enough and gave a little wiggle. Dave was amazed to see her thong slide down her legs. Quickly stepping out of it she slid it into his suit jacket pocket, leaving enough hanging out that it was obvious what it was. She mused her hair and ran her thumb over her bottom lip smearing her lipstick slightly before smearing that same thumb over Rossi's lower lip. "Lead the way stud, make it look like we are in a rush to get out of here for round two."

Rossi didn't have to be told twice. Her plan was brilliant. Any older man that just scored Sam would be anxious to keep her to himself, not let her around younger, more virile men. Their rapid exit would look natural, especially if he was the one dragging her. Grabbing her hand he began a determined path to the exit as he noticed their friends in the corner. The ring leader tipped his glass in Rossi's direction as they hurried by.

Outside of the bar Sam shivered. They hurried to their car, pulling out the keys and sliding in before Rossi cranked the engine and pulled away. They heard the team make their exit through their earwigs before hearing car doors slam. Hotch and Rothschild called into Garcia that the teams were all clear and both Rossi and Sam let out a sigh of relief. As they drove towards the station, Sam felt the adrenaline leave her system. She began to tremble.

Dave turned on the heater even though he knew she wasn't cold. As they pulled into a parking spot at the station Dave hurried to shut the car off and made his way around to Sam's side. He offered her his hand and pulled her into his arms as she exited the car. "It's over bella, it's done. We caught him. He can't hurt anyone else. The team is safe."

Sam took a moment to lean against Rossi. "I feel ridiculous. Usually I am the one kicking down the door and dragging the suspect out in handcuffs. I wait until I get home to let everything go."

"But this wasn't your usual case. You had to be bait and being bait is stressful. Not to mention, you didn't enjoy the attention that dress brought tonight and you don't want to walk back into that station after your earlier altercation."

"I thought there was no inter-team profiling Agent Rossi. But yes, I'm in this ridiculous dress and to top it off, I'm not wearing any underwear. I understand why we did what we did, but I feel kind of like a high class whore right now. And it doesn't take a profiler to know that I am going to be uncomfortable walking back into that police station."

Rossi stepped back and pulled off his coat. He helped her into it before reaching into the inside pocket and pulling out their badges. He clipped his onto his belt and pulled the chain from hers before hanging it around her neck. "That's all the armor you need." he said, tapping the badge that she now wore. "Besides, how many men like Officer Mitchell could take down a suspect in four inch heels?" Rossi began to chuckle before adding "And then pull off an exit commando besides. I have to ask, why the thong? It's not like you were planning on it being seen, were you?"

Sam's laughter joined his. "Oh my God, this really is the most ridiculous outfit ever for an FBI agent, isn't it? No, I wasn't planning on it being seen. Garcia was all concerned about any lines showing under the dress. You should have seen Reid's face when we drug him through the lingerie section of the department store, I though he may pass out from the embarrassment. It almost made him deciding on this awful dress worth it." she chuckled out as she made sure her underwear was pushed firmly into the bottom of the jacket pocket. Some things just didn't need to fall out at the wrong times.

Rossi raised an eyebrow as he thought of the young doctor's embarrassment. "I don't know about ever. Gideon and I sent Aaron under cover as a cross-dresser once but that was during his first year with the BAU. And he didn't have Garcia to shop for him."

Sam gasped. "Hotch? In a dress? And heels? No way! Please tell me you got him Dolly Parton wig." she pleaded before being overtaken with giggles. The team pulled up to her and Rossi trying to get their laughter under control.

Hotch was the first one out of the SUV. "You know Rossi, some stories about the good old days do not actually need to be shared with the younger generation. And Dr. Ryan, that's more information about your exit strategy than what needs to be in the report."

Rossi and Sam looked at each other, both turning a bit of a shade of crimson. They had forgotten to take their earwigs out. Both teams had heard their entire discussion and now knew Sam wasn't wearing anything under the emerald green satin. Sam had never wished for a hole in the ground to open up and swallow her as much as she did at that moment.

Walking back into the police station with one of their Unsub's elbows gripped firmly and her badge around her neck made Sam almost glow with pride. Morgan took note of it from the other side of one Samuel David Warner who was now being booked on multiple homicide charges. There weren't even any more disparaging remarks or cat-calls directed at their newest team member, not that anyone who did make an inappropriate step would have lasted long against the rest of the BAU family.

As Warner was booked Garcia provided more information. Warner's mother was a red headed woman of questionable virtue. He didn't even have a father listed on his birth certificate. Evidently she used to frequent that bar when he was a child and pick up older men. When his wife decided to leave him five months ago that was all the stressor he needed. He headed back to his old neighborhood and snapped, trying to drown the memories of his mother, wife, and failed marriage with every couple he killed. The team gathered up their case files and prepared to head home. Bags were packed and hotel room keys were returned. Sam handed Rossi his suit jacket back on their way out of the hotel feeling decidedly more comfortable back in her own clothes. The team universally decided that paperwork could wait until the next day and dropped off to sleep on the jet one by one.

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A few days later Rossi walked into the bullpen with his morning coffee in one hand and a brown paper lunch bag in the other. The smirk on his face clearly expressed the some days were just too enjoyable and this was going to be one of them. He strode purposefully over to their newest team member's desk before dropping the paper bag in front of her.

Sam quirked an eyebrow up at Rossi. "You brought me lunch?"

"Nope." was the simple reply. The rest of the team was beginning to gather around, unsure what was going on between the two agents.

"Well, it's not on fire so I can rule out anything too nefarius, can't I?" Sam was beginning to get nervous and it showed in the fact her voice had jumped half of an octave.

Rossi only raised an eyebrow in reply. Sam was too cautious to just dump whatever it was out on the desk but she wasn't sure that it wasn't booby trapped to go off when she opened it. Unrolling the top of the bag she cracked it open and peeked in before "Oh my God!" came out of Sam and she quickly crumpled the bag shut. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Who found it?" came out before nervous giggles began to erupt.

Rossi chuckled. "The drycleaners did. I didn't think to check the front pocket before I dropped the jacket off because I only ever put things in the inside pockets. And when I got there to pick up my dry cleaning at Fuller's they had it all cleaned, pressed, and hung up on a hanger for me."

"Did they charge you for it?" was all Sam could squeak out.

"Yup. Cost me five bucks and won me endless admiration from old Mr. Fuller and the stink eye from Mrs. Fuller."

"Rossi, I am so sorry. I forgot. I just, I just…" was all she could sputter out.

"You really should check underneath. There's a present for you."

Sam was worried. Uncrumpling the paper bag she opened it just barely far enough to put her hand inside before feeling around. She pulled out a gift card to Victoria's Secret. "Rossi!" came out as she flipped it over and realized that it was for two hundred and fifty dollars.

Rossi grasped her hand and pressed a kiss on the back of her knuckles. "My pleasure bella. I haven't had that much fun picking up my dry cleaning in ages. Besides, a woman like you deserves silk and lace and I'm willing to bet you never treat yourself."

Sam was speechless as she watched Rossi walk to his office. She didn't know how to address the situation with her fellow agents. They had to have caught on by now what was in the bag. And where did Rossi get off giving her a gift certificate like that? Hotch was the first one to address the issue.

"You know, should you choose to report it, that whole interaction would technically qualify as sexual harassment." he said, the lawyer in him showing through.

"Nope Hotch. As far as I'm concerned that was some simple ribbing between colleagues. All I can say is that I'm grateful he's not married or I could have caused divorce number four." she said tucking the paper bag and the gift card into her go bag.

Morgan was the first to jump in as Hotch walked away. "What's the matter Princess, not gonna show the class?"

"Morgan it's bad enough my underwear got dry cleaned in the first place. No, I'm not showing the class."

"Too bad Princess. Of course, if you need a second opinion on how to spend that gift card I would be happy to volunteer my services." he said with a smirk before walking away with a file.

Ryan stood and turned to the remaining group that stood around her desk. "Not a word." was all that came out before she grabbed her coffee cup and headed to the break room for a refill hearing laughter break out behind her.


	14. Chapter 14

*AN - I have to get more creative with these disclaimers. I don't own or profit in any way from Criminal Minds, but I can dream... ~MM*

Chapter 14

The team recovered from Texas and had just finished up a local case when a visitor came into the BAU. Sam was walking out of Hotch's office when she literally ran into a good looking blond man in a leather jacket and dropped the files she was holding. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry." she said as they both bent down to retrieve the papers.

"Sean, what are you doing here?" came from her boss as he hurried around his desk to the door.

"Sorry about that," came from Sean Hotchner as he handed her the files he had helped gather up and stood. "I should have expected Aaron to be busy."

Sam was amused. It wasn't every day her boss looked happy and watching him share a hug with the man she bumped into showed a definitely happy Aaron Hotchner.

Pulling back Hotch took in the smirk on his agent's face. Keeping a hand clasped on Sean's shoulder he turned them to face Sam. "Dr. Ryan this is my baby brother Sean Hotchner. Sean, my newest team member, Sam Ryan."

"Doctor?" was Sean's surprised answer. "You can't be old enough to hold a doctorate. Of course, you have that genius kid here…"

"Don't be too hard on geniuses Mr. Hotchner. We tend to surprise you." was Sam's challenge.

"Oh, you already have." was his easy reply.

Hotch took in their banter and his brother's obvious interest. "Come in, sit for a minute." he encouraged his brother. "What are you doing in town?"

Sean watched Sam walk back down into the bull pen before turning to walk into his brothers office and settle into one of the chairs. "I have a job interview in three days and I was hoping to crash at your place, maybe get to spend some time with my brother and nephew."

Aaron was surprised that he was looking to change jobs. His brother had gone to school in New York and then settled into a job at a high end Manhattan restaurant where he began to make a name for himself in the culinary world.

"Not that I would mind, but why Quantico?" was the curious reply.

"South side of Arlington, actually. I guess I finally woke up and realized that Mom and Dad are both dead and we are the only family that each other has. This way I can actually see you and Jack more often than just Christmas. Besides, the Manhattan social scene is boring. It's one socialite after another and evidently a chief is the latest and greatest fashion accessory. I guess I'm just finally growing up and getting over that kind of lifestyle. And I figured you had finally gotten over me not becoming a lawyer so it was safe." he added with a grin.

Hotch took a moment to take this in. Maybe his little brother was finally grown up.

Sean continued. "So, who exactly was that that I ran into as I came to see you?"

Hotch took in his little brother's body language. He was leaning forward in his chair interest clear in his features. Hotch wasn't sure how much he wanted to encourage this. It could be awkward to have family date family.

"Dr. Samantha Ryan transferred in from Vegas not long ago. She is another genius with three degrees and one PhD so far. She is an expert in hand to hand and is taking over as our resident expert in sex crimes. She also holds qualifications as an FBI marksman and before you ask, yes, she is damn good with any kind of a gun."

"So she's deadly in addition to being beautiful. That's intriguing." was the reply from the younger man.

"Sean, you need to think about this. She can literally kill you with her bare hands. Are you sure you want to do this?" he cautioned. He had learned long ago that outright telling his brother not to do something was a sure way to make him do it so refusing his permission for Sean to ask out Sam was out of the question. Then he realized that he actually didn't have a right to tell either one of them that they couldn't or shouldn't see each other. And finally he realized that his entire internal monolog just made him feel ten years older.

Sean sat back and watched the play of emotions across his brother's face. The classic Hotchner expression was present, he just knew his brother well enough to be able to read around it. And he was curious as to what was so special about this woman. Surely his brother didn't want to date her. She was on his team! And she was much closer in age to him than Aaron.

"So, can I crash at your place tonight? I don't know what you usually do on Wednesdays for dinner but I'll cook." Sean volunteered.

"I was planning on chicken nuggets tonight and mac n' cheese with hotdogs tomorrow so do whatever you want. Just remember, Jack's five." was Hotch's advice to the younger man as they stood and walked out of his office together.

Sean began to head for the elevators before throwing back a look over his shoulder and taking in the red head sitting at the desk speaking with his older brother. Suddenly he was even happier that he was trying to relocate to Virginia.

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The team was just debating what to order for lunch the next day when the elevator opened and Sean Hotchner strode back out with cooler in his arms. "Hey kid. What do you have there?" was Rossi's question to the young man.

Hotch looked out of his office to see Sean setting down a cooler on the edge of Reid's desk.

"Practice." Sean said with a smile. "My interview is Friday and I wanted to try some recipes. Aaron, Jack, and I can't possibly eat all of this so I thought I would bring you guys lunch."

The team headed to the break room as a unit and began to chat amiably as Sean unloaded the cooler. Once the dishes were set out, they all dug in.

"Not bad kid, not bad at all." came from Rossi as he dug into a pasta dish.

"Sean, this is really good." was Hotch's comment.

"Pumpkin, how are you not around to cook for us more often?" gushed Garcia.

"Sean, I'm gonna be in trouble if you move here." was Emily's comment. "I foresee extra time at the gym in my future."

"Me too." came from JJ.

Reid pipped up. "You know, Julia Child said that 'Life itself is the proper binge.' And Emily and JJ, I really don't think that you have anything to worry about."

"She also said 'I think every woman should have a blowtorch' which is a sentiment that I wholeheartedly agree with." Ryan quipped.

"Princess, why am I not surprised?" retorted Morgan.

Sam rolled her eyes and pointed her fork at Morgan. "How many times do I have to tell you? Don't call me Princess."

Sean had stood to the side and watched the exchange between team members with interest before making up a plate for himself and moving to stand next to Dr. Ryan. "So, why make the move from Sin City Doctor?"

Sam looked at the man standing to her left. He was obviously interested in her but not obnoxiously or maliciously. Plus he was Hotch's brother so he was probably harmless. She didn't want to be rude; he was personable, he was attractive, it had been forever since she had a date and as her undercover work with Rossi showed she probably needed one. But, she just wasn't sure she was interested. "There was an opening at the BAU. Giving up Vegas for this didn't take terribly much higher brain function." she replied easily.

Hotch and Rossi took in the two from across the room. Then they took in the rest of the team observing Sam and Sean. They were obviously the center of attention despite everyone's efforts to appear that they weren't paying any attention at all.

Sean decided to be brave and make his move. "So, I'm in town for a few days for a job interview. I would love to practice a few more recipes. How would you feel about me cooking you dinner tomorrow night? You could come over after work, we could have a little wine …"

Sam cut him off with a grin. "You're staying at Hotch's, right? You do realize that means you just invited me to dinner at my boss's house, don't you?"

Sean looked mildly chagrined. "I'm sure Aaron won't mind…" he tried to plead.

"Well I'm sure he won't mind either since you'll be feeding him too and you are proving to be quite the talented chef. So, shall we plan to eat at six thirty so that dinner's not too late for Jack?" was her innocent reply. Sam knew he was angling for a date. She wasn't sure she was ready for that yet. With Hotch and Jack there she had her very own shield. She could take the time to see if she was interested or not in a safe environment.

Sean knew he had been beat. "See you after work tomorrow then?" was his hopeful question.

"I'll be there." Sam assured him.

*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*

Tension in the BAU was palpable the next day. Derek was snappy and short tempered. Reid was enjoying watching his 'older brother' act so out of character. The girls were beside themselves. Finally at lunch JJ and Emily managed to pull Sam into Garcia's lair. "Just what do you think you are doing to Derek?" was Penelope's question as the door shut behind them.

Sam was taken aback. "I'm not doing anything to Derek. I'm going to have dinner at Hotch's house with him, his son, and his younger brother tonight." she stated calmly.

Penelope pushed. "Sam, Derek is head over heels for you and he doesn't know what to do about it. Agreeing to go out with another man in front of him is a bit cruel and unusual. I know that Sean is almost too cute for words and he is a Hotchner, but we are comparing him to Derek. Derek Morgan, my chocolate god of thunder who is the most upstanding man you will ever meet! He's courageous and valiant and chivalrous and just an all around good guy. I mean…"

Sam whistled suddenly to gain everyone's attention. "Garcia, it's not a date. It's dinner at my boss' house. I plan on showing up on my bike and showing my stubborn independent streak to its fullest. I couldn't just shoot him down, he's Hotch's baby brother. And, I'm not going to just say no on principal. I'm single, I have been for a while and _nobody else_ has asked me out. People are telling me that it's time to get back on the horse. This is a good way to go on a date without going on a date. I will literally have the supervision of a fellow FBI agent all night not to mention an observant five year old. Nothing is gonna happen Garcia. I've set it up to make sure of that."

The girl's nodded. Sam had backed Sean into a corner by insisting Hotch and the Baby G-man be there. Garcia got a glint in her eye. She realized Sam was more devious than she looked.

"Are we good then?" Sam asked. "Can I actually go eat my lunch?"

Garcia nodded. "I see your plan. Go forth and enact it. Just remember, over lunch tomorrow we want details so expect to spill." The threat to the agent with issued with a stern look and a feathered pen brandished in Sam's direction.

Sam walked out of the room and the girls turned to each other. "This is perfect." Garcia gushed. "She is making Derek jealous all on her own!"

Emily wasn't so sure. "Penelope, have you noticed just how foul his mood is today. It was like that when Sam and Rossi were undercover too. Derek is being pushed dangerously far by this situation. I'm not sure how much more he can take."

JJ grinned. "Maybe this is good for him. Sam isn't making life easy on him and he needs that. He has had it too good for too long. It's about time the boy had to work for something."

*AN - I am so sorry that I haven't updated in so long. Working 65 hr weeks doesn't leave much time for writing, but the new clinic is up and running! Thanks for staying with me ~ Morpheus' Muse*


	15. Chapter 15

**AN - Still don't own or profit in any way from but a girl can dream... ~ M.M.**

Chapter 15

Sam left work right on time and hurried home to let Warrick out, feed him, and change. She slid into comfortably worn jeans and her favorite knee high boots. She opted for an olive green shirt that set her hair off and hinted at cleavage without being overly feminine. She touched up her makeup and grabbed her jacket and helmet before grabbing the backpack containing two carefully packed bottles of white wine and a coloring book for Jack. Settling on the helmet and backpack she started the bike and smoothly pulled out of her driveway. She chuckled to herself. Tonight was going to be interesting.

*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*

Sean was bustling around Hotch's kitchen greatly amusing his brother with his antics. "Sean, she's just coming over for dinner." he stated, trying to introduce the idea that Sean may be more interested in Sam than Sam was interested in Sean. "Sam is pretty laid back. Relax; you're going to accidently cut off a finger if you keep up with this frantic pace."

Sean shot a look at his brother. "Aaron, I don't have to tell you that a woman like that is not single for very long. She's gorgeous. She radiates something that I can't put my finger on but that I want to be around as much as I can. I have one shot to impress her so it has to be perfect."

Aaron looked at the flowers sitting on the counter and the pots and pans on the stove before taking in the small mountain of dirty dishes in the sink. What had his brother been doing all day? He decided to hold his tongue and simply set to work loading the dishwasher while trying not to profile his brother.

Just before six the doorbell rang. Sean shot Aaron a look of panic. "I'll get that." Hotch stated leaving his brother in the kitchen. He disarmed the security system and opened the door. "Sam, come in, I'm glad you could make it." he said cordially.

Sam had her helmet in hand and her bag slung casually over one shoulder. "Hey Hotch, I'm glad you don't mind me coming over like this. It was a bit forward of me to insist that you and Jack be here."

Hotch chuckled. "No, actually I expected no less of you. But try not to profile my brother too much. I don't think he can take it."

Sam smirked. "That bad, huh?" she asked as she set down her helmet and pulled off her jacket before handing them both to Hotch to put away.

"Haven't seen him like this since he was in high school." Hotch assured her.

Jack came running into the apartment foyer stopping when he saw someone he didn't recognize. "Daddy, who is that?" he asked leaning into his father's leg.

Hotch scooped his son into his arms. "This is Dr. Sam Ryan. She just joined the team that works with me to catch the bad guys."

Sam held out her hand to Jack not at all surprised when he shook it. "It's nice to meet you Jack. I'm glad that you and your dad are having me over for supper tonight."

Jack was silent for a moment and you could see him pondering. "If Sam works with you doesn't that make her my Aunt Sam?" was Jack's innocent question.

Hotch was surprised but quickly made the connection. The rest of the team were honorary aunts and uncles. It fell in line that Jack would assume Sam would be too if she worked with his dad.

"That would be nice, Jack." was Sam's reply, trying not to read too much into the simple exchange. "I almost forgot, I brought you something for being nice enough to have me over." Sam said as she dug into the bag on her shoulder before pulling out the Captain America coloring book and presenting it to Jack. "I hope you like it."

Jack beamed up a double dimpled grin as he accepted the coloring book before chirping out a very cute "Thank you Aunt Sam!" and squirming out of his father's arms to go find crayons.

"Thank you Sam, but you didn't have to feel obligated to do that." Hotch said with a smile.

Sam just laughed. "It's no problem Hotch, really. Besides, I brought you and Sean something too." she said as she pulled out the two bottles of wine. "Now, let's get this settled in the kitchen and then lock up my sidearm."

Sam and Hotch made their way to the kitchen doorway and watched the agitated movements of the younger Hotchner brother. Sam quirked an eyebrow at Hotch before setting the bottles of wine on the counter and following him back out to the living room. "Told you." was the response from her boss. "I keep my gun safe within reach of my bed. Do you just want me to run your Glock up or do you want to lock it up yourself. I just don't want you to feel like I am trying to corner you in my bedroom."

Sam smiled. "That's very sweet of you to explain but I trust you Hotch. Just run it up." she said as she pulled her sidearm out of the small of her back and double checked the safety before handing it over to her unit chief. Sam watched her boss walk upstairs before turning and walking into the kitchen taking in the chaos for a moment before speaking. "Need help?"

Sean whirled around. He knew Sam was in the house but he assumed that Aaron would bring her into the kitchen and announce her presence. Instead she caught him with his guard down. "Ah, no, I'm good. Really." he tried to sound convincing.

Sam just tsked at him as she walked over to wash her hands. "Sean, I'm a profiler. It's pretty obvious you are a bit stressed in here. Now, let me know what I can do to help. I'm almost as good with a knife as I am a gun."

Sean took a deep breath before giving in. "Alright. Can you mix up a little molasses, whiskey, lemon, and honey? That makes the base of the glaze for the pork chops.

Sam smiled and hunted up a small mixing bowl. She had just finished whisking the ingredients together when Hotch walked back into the room. "Hey Hotch, where do I find a small sauce pan?"

Both brothers turned before they all chuckled. "I guess I'm gonna have to actually call you by your first name, huh?" was the question to her boss as she poured the mixture into the offered pan and started it on the stove. "I gotta tell you Agent Hotchner, it is a little weird to call you Aaron."

"We're off work for the moment Doctor Ryan." he said emphasizing the title Doctor. "Enjoy it." he softly reprimanded his agent.

"Look at that, you get him out of a suit and he actually relaxes. And here I though you slept in a three pieced pinstripe." she teased her boss.

Sean's laughter joined in. "He's been that way since high school. Serious. Straight forward. It's nice to just see my brother instead of a lawyer or a federal agent every once in a while."

Sam finished seasoning the glaze before pulling it off the stove and pouring it over the pork chops and sliding them back in the oven. Aaron and Jack set the table while Sam and Sean finished in the kitchen. Sam opened a bottle of wine and poured for the adults while Aaron got a glass of milk for Jack. They all settled into the dining room for dinner. Just as they were about to sit down Sean leaned down and whispered to Jack who cracked a smile and scurried into the kitchen. He came out holding the bouquet of flowers that had been sitting on the counter.

"Aunt Sam, these are for you." he said solemnly handing the bouquet to her. "Thank you for coming to dinner."

Sam grinned. Jack looked so much like a miniature Aaron that it was just too cute! "Thank you Jack, that's very nice of you." she said accepting the flowers and taking a sniff before laying them down next to her plate. "They smell wonderful."

Jack ran back around the table and his dad helped him into his booster seat. Sam and Aaron tried to hide their chuckles as he leaned over to his uncle and whispered "Did I do it right?" in a conspiratory whisper that was just a little too loud.

Sean tried to hold his composure as he watched his brother and Sam hide their giggles behind their napkins. "You did it exactly right buddy. Now dig in."

Everybody enjoyed their first few bites before Sam broke the quiet. "Sean, this is really good. The nutmeg sets off something in the mac n' cheese I wouldn't have expected." Truthfully everything was quite good. The mac n' cheese was creamy, the glazed pork chops were juicy, and the asparagus spears were perfectly done.

Sean smiled. "I'm glad you like it. How are you liking the BAU? Is it tough to work for Aaron?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Working for your brother is easy. As long as you are on top of your game and leave profanity out from between the initials F, B, and I you will do just fine."

Sean took in the shared smile between Sam and Aaron. "What am I missing here?"

Aaron just sighed. "There may have been an incident in Texas where I debated charging a police officer with assault of a federal agent when he tangled with Sam but ultimately she did quite the good job of making him wish that he hadn't even gotten out of bed that day. And Sam may have been a little understandably upset when identifying herself."

Sam blushed slightly as Sean looked at her. "I was understandably upset. He left a bruise! Truthfully, I am amazed I didn't break an ankle flipping him like that. Four inch heels are not designed to throw men around in."

"Stop. Backup. What is with the heels and sending some poor guy through the air?" Sean asked.

Sam leveled her gaze at the younger of the Hotchner brothers. "Simple, I was ready to go undercover and some ass…" Sam cut herself off realizing a five year old was in the room and listening. Clearing her throat she started again. "And a very poor excuse for a police officer didn't think I was in any position of power or even in a position to fight back. So, he started something he shouldn't have. Before he knew it the woman he underestimated had flipped him, pinned him, and her team had their weapons leveled on him. All and all it was a very bad day for Officer Mitchell."

The banter continued over dinner. Conversation flowed and there was more laughter than had been in the Hotchner household for a long time. After the table had been cleared Hotch took Jack upstairs to get a bath and go to bed. Sam and Sean were curled up at opposite ends of the couch chatting over second glasses of wine.

"Where is your interview at?" Sam asked with curiosity. Having a best friend who was a chef tended to keep you abreast of the news in the local culinary world.

Sean leaned back into the arm of the couch and grinned. "It's at Savour in Arlington. The restaurant has really been taking off and the head chef sounds like he is really something."

Sam forced down a grin. "Eric Abrams in the head chef there, right?"

Sean was surprised. "Have you eaten there?"

Sam chuckled. "Yes I have. I thought the food was quite good and the atmosphere was relaxing. And Eric came out to check on how our meal was."

"Eric huh? He must have made quite an impression."

Sam just laughed. "You could say that." she replied, thinking of how delightfully unique her best friend always was.

Sean sipped his wine and stewed for a second. The chef had obviously been memorable. He wanted to do something just as memorable. Standing he walked over to the stereo and pulled a CD off the shelf. Slow jazz began to fill the room as _In a Sentimental Mood_ began to purr from the speakers. Walking back over to Sam he held out his hand. "Dance with me." he cajoled.

Sam set her wine on the coffee table and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. Sean backed into the middle of the room before pulling her into his arms. Sam noticed that he held her just a little closer than he needed to. He was smooth on his feet and she easily followed his lead. She took in the scent of his cologne, the deep brown of his eyes, the way he had little hidden laugh lines at the corner of his mouth. She caught herself mentally comparing him to Morgan and realized then that it wasn't going to be fair to him to lead him on any longer.

As the song ended they heard small hands clapping. Hotch was standing in the door way with Jack in his arms all bundled up in footie pajamas and looking like a sleepy little bear with his head pillowed on his dad's shoulder. Aaron cleared his throat when he saw the pair turn to look. "Someone wanted goodnight hugs." he offered looking apologetically at his brother.

Sam smiled and parted from Sean and began to walk towards father and son. Jack leaned out of his father's arms and she scooped him up easily, giving him a big hug and whispering "Sweet dreams Baby G-man." into his ear before passing him to his uncle.

Sean gave Jack a hug and watched as the wheels in the little man's head turned as he got ready to hand him back to his dad. Surprisingly Jack snuggled into Sean's arms before looking back and forth at his dad and Aunt Sam.

"Aren't you gonna dance with Aunt Sam now Daddy?" was the innocent question.

Hotch and Sam looked back and forth at each other before Sam smirked. "Come on Aaron. You can't let your baby brother show you up." she teased.

Aaron let out a soft sigh before accepting the hand his agent offered and following her out into the middle of his living room. He pulled her into his arms and was amazed that he even remembered how to do this. It had been so long since he danced with anyone. Looking back he wasn't sure that he had danced with Hailey since Jack was very little and they were still kind of getting along.

Sam noted the differences between the brothers. Aaron was the more confident one but he held himself more rigidly. He danced according to all of the classic rules. He was very much the frame and gave her a clear lead to follow. A puckish little demon took root on Sam's shoulder. "Do you ever unbend?" she asked her boss with a raised eyebrow. "Your son wanted us to dance. Show him what you got Agent Hotchner."

Aaron saw the challenge in her eyes and realized she was not only enjoying making him unbend but also was using him to show his brother that she saw both of them equally. Wordlessly he twirled her out, watching as she executed the move smoothly before pulling her back into his arms and dipping her at the end of the song. He held her gaze for a moment before hearing the small clapping hands that he knew belonged to his son. He pulled Sam back up and wasn't surprised when she dropped to a curtsey for Jack. He laughed and followed with a small bow.

Aaron cleared his throat as he straightened. "Alright young man, time for bed." he said scooping his son out of his brother's arms and walking up the stairs.

Sean cleared his throat and sat back down on the sofa with Sam. He picked up his wineglass and swirled the contents, staring at them as if he could discern some sort of wisdom from the pale liquid.

"Sean…" Sam started not really knowing what to say.

"It's OK Sam. I get it. At least you gave me a chance." was his quiet reply.

"Sean, trust me, you're not missing anything. I'm stubborn and I'm damaged and I prefer to do things the hard way."

Sean smiled and held up his wine glass. "Well, here's to taking chances." he said quietly.

Sam clinked her glass to his and took a sip. She set the glass down as Hotch reentered the room with her sidearm. She accepted it from her unit chief and slid it back into the small of her back before turning to Sean. "Good luck with your interview tomorrow. Eric's a good guy. Show him passion and you'll do just fine. And thank you for tonight. It was nice to be wanted." she said with a small smile before walking to the closet to pull out her jacket and helmet. Hotch met her wordlessly with her backpack. She accepted it with a small smile and turned to the door. Hotch gave her an answering smile and let her out before turning back to his brother.

Sean sighed. "Guess it wasn't meant to be, huh? You knew this was a bad idea all along, didn't you?" he asked.

Hotch quirked up one corner of his mouth in a rueful grin. "I think that Sam's attention is currently held by someone else and she is trying to determine how she feels about that. When you came along it was a good outlet to test her feelings. At least she was upfront with you and didn't lead you on." he offered trying to make his brother feel better about the situation in general.

Sean slumped back on the couch. "True." he agreed with his brother before adding "Here's to being unlucky in love."

** AN - Thank you again to Greyhound Girl. You are the best beta ever and are encouraging me to get back to writing after all of the extra hours at work over the past few months. And to people like NatalyaEnkou who send wonderful reviews and comments, you are providing the encouragement I need to get back to work on this story. I can't believe it has been viewed as many times as it has and that anybody has an interest in my ramblings ~ Morpheus' Muse**


	16. Chapter 16

*AN- All standard disclaimers apply about not owning or profiting from Criminal Minds. This chapter also goes a bit deeper into the crime scene itself. Descriptions of a deceased person in detail are involved as well as what was done to them and the objects that it was done with. Reader discretion is advised and please remember that this story is rated M because of things like this. ~MM*

Chapter 16

The team had just finished trickling into the bullpen when Hotch called them into the conference room. They grabbed coffee and their tablets and settled around the table as Hotch began. "Police in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania are investigating a series of murders. Men are being beaten, sodomized, and murdered in hotel rooms across the city. The hotels are moderately priced and in the two to three star range and cater primarily to business travelers. They have surveillance but not enough to cover all hallways. Five men have been killed and the local PD is asking for our help in stopping the person or persons responsible. The last man was found two hours ago and they have agreed to hold the crime scene for us."

Garcia had been clicking through the images on the screen as Hotch explained the case and the team had begun to take notes. Finally, the images came to a halt. "Wheels up in thirty." was Hotch's brisk command as he walked out of the conference room.

The team grabbed their gear and found their way to the jet. The flight to Philly passed almost too quickly as the agents began to bounce ideas off of each other and come up with the bones of a profile. Rossi, Reid, Prentiss, and JJ set up in the local police station while Hotch, Morgan, and Sam went to the last crime scene. Even with the briefing, the scene in front of them was not what Sam was expecting. A man lay diagonally across the hotel bed. His hands were restrained with rope, arms pulled out in front of him and they had been tied to one of the posts on the foot of the bed. His knees were tucked under his body keeping his forehead on the mattresses with his backside in the air. The Unsub had run ropes from one corner of the headboard to the opposite corner of the footboard tying both ankles together in the process. He still had a gag in his mouth. The man showed signs of scratching and bruising all over his body. He had obviously had non-consensual penetrative sex if the blood was anything to judge by but Sam was more interested in his feet.

"Morgan, look at this." she said crouching down by the edge of the bed and peering under his body. "This Unsub knows what they are doing."

"What do you mean?" was Morgan's question as he crouched down next to her.

"Look at his ankles. They are both tied by both ropes. There is no way he could flip over and he had no way to straighten his legs. If they had only tied each ankle to one rope he could have flipped over on his back and still had some limited mobility. If they would have tied him spread eagle it would have been harder to reach his genitals and he could have protected them somewhat. But whoever did this wanted to keep his backside in the air and wanted everything to be available so they could torture him as well. And even though I haven't paid particularly close attention to a lot of deceased men's penises, I'm pretty sure that dark purple color and that extreme distention is not normal."

Hotch motioned to the ME and the lead CSI on site. "Are we in a position where we can flip him over?"

The ME nodded and worked with the CSI tech to cut the ropes so that the knots would be preserved. When they flipped the body over they found an exceptionally disturbing site. A very strong very small rubber band had been forced around the victim's penis. "Were the other four victims found in this same condition?" was Hotch's question to the ME.

"The other four showed signs of some type of restrictive device but it wasn't found on their bodies." was the calm reply from the ME.

Sam mulled it over as Hotch and Morgan tried not to flinch. "Hotch, I don't get it. You don't attack a person like this without a good reason. Genital mutilation is personal in some way. That had to be very tough to get on. Our Unsub had to be both strong enough to stretch the rubber band and control the victim at the same time to get it in place. I know that he was restrained but I doubt he would have just held still and let them place this on him. He should have been fighting like hell at that point and giving them a …" Sam cleared her throat "moving target, so to speak."

The agents continued to work through the room before meeting again at the door. "Let's rejoin the team. I think we've seen what we need to see here." was Hotch's order. The team loaded into their SUV and headed to the station to rejoin the rest of the BAU.

They were gathered around a conference table. CSIs had been able to provide them with a duplicate of the rubber band used on the last victim and Sam kept turning it over in her hands.

Rossi was the first to break the silence. "It's obvious we are dealing with a sexual sadist." was the blanket statement that just reiterated what they had discussed on the jet.

"Look at the scratch marks, the handprints. It took a lot of force to leave this kind of damage. It also took some time. And they knew they were going to do it so they gagged him to keep him quiet." was Emily's comment.

JJ placed a picture of the wrists of one of their victims on the table. "Look at how deep the ligature marks are. These men were restrained but they fought and fought hard. They had to know what was coming."

"Toxicology reports are all negative and all of the injuries seem to have been inflicted after the victims were already restrained. So, how do you convince a grown man to voluntarily allow himself to be tied up?" asked Hotch.

Morgan snorted. "That's easy. Either you pull a gun on him or a naked beautiful woman smiles at him."

"You know from personal experience Hot Stuff?" was Garcia's question over video chat.

"You wish Momma." was the teasing reply from Morgan.

"Well, there's no way they tied themselves up so a single person threatening these men is unlikely. If I was holding someone at gunpoint I wouldn't get close enough to risk having them try and disarm me. That leaves either two Unsubs working as a unit or Morgan's smiling naked woman theory." came from Sam as she rested her elbows on the table.

Rossi continued her line of thought. "OK, let's say there are two Unsubs. One holds the man at gunpoint, his partner ties them up."

"It's still not the smartest thing to do and this Unsub is smart." JJ insisted. "If I was being held at gunpoint I would try to put the partner in between me and the gun. These were all large men. They would have at least considered fighting back and we are not finding any signs of a struggle until the victim has been restrained."

"So back to Morgan's naked woman theory." added Reid dryly.

"What's the matter kid, you sound like it's ridiculous that a man would do that voluntarily." protested Morgan.

"It's just not something I would do." insisted Reid.

"So, beautiful naked woman stands before you and says 'Hey baby I can make this better for you than it has ever been. All you have to do is let me tie you up.' and you would turn her down?" questioned Rossi in disbelief. "Geniuses really are wired a little differently."

"Or maybe he's thinking with the right head Rossi." was the snapped response from Sam as she noticed the color rise in Reid's face.

Rossi took in Sam's stormy expression and leaned back in his chair sighing. Clearly this case was getting under her skin so he decided to let things ride for now and not tease Reid any further.

"All of the lab results are in from your last victim. I'm sending them to your tablets now." was the comment from Garcia as they began to hear beeps and dings around the table indicating incoming files to all of the tablets present.

"Don't worry Reid, I'll print you a hard copy. Anybody want to grab coffee and then we can regroup in ten?" was JJ's motherly comment.

Rossi, Emily, and Reid headed out of the station and to the doughnut shop across the road while JJ headed for a computer to print out the file. Garcia signed off and forayed back into cyberspace to hunt for more answers. Hotch, Sam, and Morgan stayed at the conference table. Sam finally stood up and flung the rubber band down on the table and began to pace. "Neither theory fits. One woman could have gotten them tied up but not gotten the rubber band on them. And why use it anyway? It adds work that doesn't need to be there. And why these victims? We still haven't found a connection other than they are all in town on business. They aren't even staying at the same hotel."

Morgan picked up the rubber band on the table and attempted to stretch it. "I agree Princess this would take more than one person. It's strong enough that I have to put some effort into it to stretch it and I'm not trying to get it on a moving target." The trio fell back into silence as everybody else returned.

Coffees were handed out and new lab reports were read. Reid was the first to speak up. "Guys, this is inconsistent."

"What is Pretty Boy?"

Reid continued, a stream of consciousness pouring out of him. "Well, all of the victims were forcibly sodomized and there hasn't been any DNA left behind. We had been assuming that the Unsub was just smart enough to wear a condom. But, what if he isn't using a condom?"

Emily spoke up. "Reid, we found lube and no DNA on all of the victims. How does this mean he's not using a condom?"

"It's simple really." started Reid excitedly beginning to talk with his hands. "Eighty seven percent of condoms sold in the US contain both a lubricant and a spermicide. The remaining thirteen percent are either unlubricated or lubricated but not containing a spermicide. Now, the brand of lubricant found on the victims doesn't contain a spermicide and is not one that comes pre-applied to condoms. So, either the Unsub used an unlubricated condom and applied their own lubricant or much more likely, they just didn't use a condom at all and instead penetrated the victims with an object, most likely some sort of personal sexual aid."

Rossi stared at Reid in disbelief. "So, in English, the Unsub raped these men with a sex toy and lube. Why would he bother to use lube if he was going to do that? If you are looking to cause pain to a victim and not worried about your own discomfort why bother?"

JJ spoke up. "Start with the easy question. Why would a man choose to use a sex toy on another man? They either do it to not leave DNA which could have been accomplished with a condom or because he has a physical limitation that would prevent him from doing so."

"I though most impotent killers chose to use knife to replicate sexual penetration?" was Sam's question.

"Most but not all." was Hotch's calm reply.

"Well, whoever is doing this is sophisticated enough to not leave DNA, fit enough to control the victims, and confident enough to procure and use a sex toy. So that puts them at what, a white male twenty five to forty years old? We have to narrow it down more than that." Sam insisted.

The laptop beeped and Garcia came back on. "My pretties I have something else disturbing to report, as if this whole mess isn't disturbing enough. So, you know hotel rooms are teaming with ickies of all kinds. They are a hotbed for prints, DNA from, umm, all sources, etc. God, just thinking about it makes me never want to leave home without a HazMat suit again. But, my point is, how likely would it be that the same DNA sample was found in all four hotel rooms?"

Reid leaned forward towards the laptop. "It would be a statistical improbability depending on what kind of sample we were dealing with and where it was found."

"CSI techs found seminal fluids near the foot of the bed on the carpet in each of the crime scenes. It seemed, umm, I guess fresher than everything else would be the best way to put it so they ran it for DNA. And all four rooms came back with the same XY profile." Garcia continued.

Sam interjected. "Pen, can you run the hotel registry and see if any guest was registered to each of those hotels on the days of the murders? And can you crosscheck with anything you can think of online and see if our victims cross paths in any way. Check chat rooms, credit card activity, online purchases, hell even cross reference incoming and outgoing cell phone calls. There has to be something that links these five men."

"Got it. Stay safe my loves. Garcia out."

"What are the chances that a single Unsub is doing this? I mean, really. I can see some parts of it being done by one woman or one man but not all of it. I think we are looking for a dominant/submissive partnership. And I think that this is the dominant's mission. Torturing and killing these men is important to only half of this team. And killing them is their reason for existing." said Morgan evenly.

Hotch looked at the team gathered around the table. "Let's give the profile."

*AN - Thank you for sticking with me through a wicked case of writer's block. And for all the encouragement and the time spent being my beta and my sounding board, thank you Greyhound Girl! - ~ MM*


	17. Chapter 17

* AN - All standard disclaimers apply. Unfortunately, I don't own any part of Criminal Minds. Also, there is a little profanity in this chapter. Remember that it is rated M folks. ~ M.M.*

Chapter 17

Yesterday the team had briefed the Philly PD on the deadly partnership they were hunting. A tip line had been set up and the public was providing a bevy of leads, most of which were not going anywhere when a slightly greasy man walked into the police station and asked to speak with the detectives working the case. It quickly became evident that the man had some knowledge that he was reluctant to share. The lead detective snagged Morgan and asked him to take over speaking with the man.

The BAU team had been out re-canvassing the crime scenes. Sam walked in to the observation room to speak with Rossi and Hotch and took a moment to observe Morgan with the witness. The man was looking down at the table. His posture was such that he was curled slightly in on himself. But every once in a while his gaze would flicker to Morgan, take in his growing frustration and a glimpse of satisfaction would show. He reminded Sam of a troll clutching his pot of gold and jealously hording the coins. The longer she watched the interaction in the room the more concerned she got. "Pull Morgan out of there, now! We have to regroup and go at this a different way before he stands up and walks out of here." Sam insisted, words falling out in a rush.

"Why?" demanded Hotch.

"Hotch, Rossi, we profiled that we are dealing with a dominant/submissive partnership. We have considered that this partnership could be a male and a female but it seemed off. Typically the male would be the dominant and the female would be the submissive. Also, these partnerships typically use the submissive to lure and trap the victim. But, what if it is a male/female partnership and the female is the dominant? What if the dominant partner is picking and luring the victims and the submissive is being used as a tool both in the attacks and now? And what if he was sent here by the dominant to try and throw us off? How many times do Unsubs instigate themselves into police investigations? What if he was sent here to try and nudge us down the wrong path or even just to buy time for the dominant?" Sam pleaded with her superiors her thought process pouring out in an almost Reid-esc fashion.

Hotch pulled out his cell and quickly dialed.

"Morgan." was the brisk answer on the other end of the line.

"Morgan, get out of there now. We have to change how we are dealing with this situation." was Hotch's brisk command.

Morgan wordlessly ended the call before snatching up the case file he had brought into the interrogation room with him and storming out. He walked next door into the observation room. "What are we doing, Hotch? This guy is just jerking us around." came rapid fire from the stormy agent.

Sam interjected. "We have to change how we go at this guy. He is just here for questioning; he's not under arrest yet. But I'm sure that this is our submissive in the partnership."

Morgan cocked his head and looked at the agent. "OK, I can see how that is possible. But how are we gonna get him to talk? And how are we gonna keep him from walking out of here? We don't have enough to arrest him."

Sam continued. "Do you see the occasional smirk he gives you? He was sent here to do this; to play with the alpha males of the FBI and keep them busy. Derek, go back in there and hit him hard. Use every alpha trick, every entitled jock trick, everything in the high school bully repertoire. This guy was never at the top of anybody's hierarchy growing up and he is used to having this kind of treatment dished out to him. Buy me thirty minutes and then I am going to come in and kick you out. And make it seem like you are pissed that I am there. Be a chauvinist. I need to show that I am an alpha female and in control of the situation. Stare me down and then give in and storm out. I will work this guy. I've got an idea that might get us what we need. Now go buy me some time to grab a few things and be ready to take all of your frustration with this guy out on me when I walk through that door."

Morgan looked at her for a minute before looking back and forth from Rossi to Hotch. Finally Hotch gave a tiny nod. "Alright. Know right now that I don't mean any of it but I am gonna do everything in my power to be a real dick when you interrupt us."

"Don't sweat it Pumpkin, I'm not exactly planning on being all peaches and cream when I burst in on you in a bit. Now please go play the heavy." Sam said with a smile.

Morgan turned and headed back into the interrogation room. Sam turned to Hotch and Rossi. "I have to grab a few things. If you have to, stall him until I get back. And play off of my lead." she threw over her shoulder as she rushed out of the room.

Hotch and Rossi continued to watch Morgan's frustration levels rise through the one way glass. Soon, Sam was back. She had been to the hotel and had changed. She wore skinny jeans that looked painted on, her motorcycle boots and leather jacket, and had tousled her hair and changed her makeup. She unzipped the jacket in the observation room and hung her badge around her neck. Rossi tried not to notice the ample amount of cleavage shown by the tank top she now wore and vaguely wondered if she had switched to a push-up bra before mentally chastising himself. If Emily and JJ could cause damage if they ever caught him thinking of them in a sexual way Sam could most certainly make him regret being born male if not having been born at all. Grabbing a current case file with pictures of the victims and crime scenes Sam looked at her boss and his mentor. "Ready?"

Rossi raised an eyebrow. Hotch simply quirked the corner of his mouth.

Sam took a deep breath and squared her shoulders before pulling herself up ramrod straight. She marched to the door of the interrogation room and slammed it open. "Morgan get out!" she ordered in a cold voice.

Morgan whipped around when the door slammed open and stared at Sam in shock. The expression on her face was icy. Her posture was rigid. And she was hot! Morgan decided to let his frustrations work for them. "What Princess? You think you are going to just come in here and tell me how to do my job?"

Sam snapped back in a low deadly tone. "Agent Hotchner called me in to handle this. He's pulling you out. You're ineffective." said Sam cold distain dripping with every word. "You're proving you are once again useless as anything but a mindless drone. I hate to shatter your illusions but you are kept around for your brawn, not your brain."

"Like I am going to take biker Barbie's word for it? Really, did you paint those jeans on? And how much cleavage do you need to show on the job? Tell me honestly, how many of your superiors have you taken for a ride and I don't mean on your bike." came from Morgan who by now was looking very heated.

"What's the matter Morgan? Upset that your ass doesn't get ogled enough when I'm around. It's not like you would bend over for our bosses anyway." she laughed coldly. "Of course, if you did maybe you wouldn't be such a damn tight ass all the time."

"Fuck you." was bitten out by Morgan as he stomped out of the room and re-slammed the door behind him.

Sam walked to the table and pulled out the chair on the opposite side of Mr. Rabin. She tossed the case file on the table and sat down putting her feet up on the table and lacing her hands on top of her head. She studied the man across from her with a detached air for a few minutes before starting. "My name is Doctor Sam Ryan. I am a Supervisory Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Now, Mr. Rabin, I understand that we think that you have some information that may help us on our current cases. And for some reason my bosses think that what you know makes you important enough to call me in here to speak with you. So, let's start with the formalities. You do realize that you are here voluntarily, you are not under arrest at this time, and you are under no obligation to speak to the FBI, correct?" she ended with an arched eyebrow.

"Yes." was the whispered reply from across the table.

"What. Was. That." was the clipped response from Sam.

"Yes Ma'am." was the slightly louder reply from across the table.

In the interrogation room Morgan, Rossi, and Hotch were impressed. Morgan hadn't gotten the man to say a single word but he was already beginning to warm to Sam. They waited anxiously to see where she was going to go with this.

"When you answer me you will speak clearly so I can hear you." Sam ordered as she began to pull out the driver's license photos of their victims, laying them out on the table. "Now, have you ever seen these men?"

Eyes flickered across the photos before Rabin's tongue licked across his lower lip in a nervous gesture.

Sam stood up and circled behind him putting one hand on the table next to his elbow and leaning over him. Making sure that her lips were level with his ear and that she was close enough that he could feel her breath she ordered "Don't lie to me. I know you Anthony. I know you better than you know yourself. I know what you want and I know what you need. I can read you for the transparent soul you are so I also know when you are not being truthful with me." she hissed at him before straightening and walking around the table to her side and began pulling out crime scene photos of the victims and placing them over the corresponding drivers license photos. "Do you know these men now?" came out as a demand.

Rabin's fingers flickered before he clasped his hands together again. Sam caught the movement. "Take a closer look." she ordered.

Sam watched as he leaned forward eagerly. His fingers ghosted over the crime scene photos. Sam noticed that even though she didn't lay them out in order, he paid attention to them that way. He started with the first victim and worked his way to the last.

"I may have seen them before." came out on a whisper as their suspect continued to pay attention to the photographs.

Sam hooked her boot around the table leg and pulled the table back so that he could no longer caress the photos before leaning her hip against the edge. She folded her arms across her chest and stared at their suspect. "You may have?" came out with a raised eyebrow before she walked around the table towards the man. She caught the toe of her boot under the rung of his chair and yanked it towards her before slamming her foot down on the edge of his chair between his knees, missing his anatomy by a calculated hairs breath. In the observation room all three men winced in sympathy.

Rabin looked up at the agent towering over him in awe. He licked his lips and began to feel his body respond. She was powerful. She was intense. She met a deep need that had been denied to him for years until he found his partner.

Sam stared down at the man sitting in front of her. She noticed the subtle change in his body language. The way he dropped his shoulders and relaxed. The way he stared up at her with doe eyes. The slight bend of his head showing his submission. 'Got him.' she thought. "Anthony, tell me the truth." she commanded in a clear, firm voice.

Rabin licked his lips and swallowed hard. He placed both palms on his knees and dropped his gaze to the floor. "I stayed in the same hotel as them ma'am." came out in a low, even tone.

"You stayed in the same hotel as them." replied Sam, knowing she had him. Now for one more trick. "Anthony, you have been very good. The FBI thanks you for your cooperation. Thank you for answering my questions truthfully. I notice you keep staring at my boots. Would you like to kiss them to thank me?"

"Yes ma'am." was the eager reply as he wrapped both hands around the boot that sat on the edge of his chair. He eagerly kissed the leather, going so far as to run his tongue up one side of the boot before reluctantly letting go.

Sam placed her foot back on the ground. "Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. You may leave." was the clear command as she looked down at the man sitting in front of her. Rabin stood and shuffled to the door before scurrying out. Sam immediately pulled out her cell and dialed.

"Hotchner." was the brisk reply on the other side of the glass.

"Keep the video equipment running. I want a clear chain of evidence on this boot. Get a detail to follow Rabin and send me a CSI tech to lift prints and DNA ASAP." was the almost snapped out request.

"Consider it done." came from Hotchner as he turned to Rossi and nodded. Rossi strode out of the room to tail Rabin. Hotch and Morgan walked back into the interrogation room.

"Don't touch me. And don't get in between me and the camera please. I want a clear record that these samples belong to that man and they were given voluntarily." came from the now grinning agent.

"How did you think to do that Princess?" asked Morgan.

"Simple. He is naturally submissive to alpha women. I just filled the role he needed filled. He was never going to cave to you. I gave him the type of attention he craved. He hopefully gave me both admission to being at the crime scenes as well as prints and DNA. We know he had no business being in those hotel rooms with the victims. You could argue that one man invited him in, but all four? That would be highly unlikely. If his DNA matches the four samples found at the crime scenes then we have our submissive. We track his movements and see who they overlap repeatedly with. Then we have our dominant."

A CSI tech came into the room and began to photograph the boot before collecting prints and DNA as well as bagging the boot itself. "You know, I am going to miss those boots." Sam said wistfully, "but I'm not sure I actually want them back. It's kinda creepy at this point, you know?"

Morgan just chuckled as the CSI's assured them that prints and DNA would be run STAT. A barefooted Sam walked with Morgan back to the conference room that the BAU had taken over before they called Garcia.

"Talk to me, Hot Stuff."

*"Hey Mama, you're on speaker. Sam's here. We think we have our submissive. His name is Anthony Rabin. He rented rooms in all four hotels on the days that the men were attacked. Cross reference him plus the victims and see who else pops up repeatedly. Rossi is tailing Rabin. We need to find his dominant. I don't think he is going to be dumb enough to go back to her, so you are our best shot. Use those magic fingers Baby Girl and do that thing you do."

Frantic typing of keys could be heard over the speaker before an excited voice came back to them. "Got her. Angelica Keyes age thirty one, white female, Philadelphia native. She works for an online pharmacy as a sales representative fielding phone calls at the local call center. And, even better, all of your victims used said pharmacy. They all have prescriptions for various male mediations ranging from testosterone cream to Viagra."

Sam smiled. "This could be how she is picking her victims. She is targeting men that she has contact with through work. I am willing to bet she is charming on the phone, chats them up, then narrows down her possible victims by finding out which men are business travelers that will be in Philly."

"Thank you Baby Girl. You're the best, you know that, right? I'm gonna share this info. Can you find me an address on our Ms. Keyes please?"

"Oh, my Hot Chocolate, I know you love me. As soon as I know where she is you will know where she is. Garcia out."

The team minus Rossi regrouped in the conference room. While they were waiting for everyone to arrive they got their DNA results. Anthony Rabin was a match. Hotch had just walked in when they got texts from Garcia. Their Unsub was at work. Morgan, Hotch, and Sam headed to her work to arrest her. Rossi and a local detective pulled over Rabin and took him into custody while Reid, JJ, and Prentiss raided the Unsub's homes with CSIs. By evening, paperwork was packed up and team was joking and laughing as they caught the quick flight home.

*A.N. - So, I went a little more in depth with the crime scene. I wanted to show Sam in the interrogation room and I liked the tension between Sam and Derek. Still fighting writer's block. And for those of you who want Sam and Derek to get together already it is coming. I have them in Vegas about chapter 20 or so in my story plan and I have a little bit of it worked out already. It should be fun... ~ M.M.*


	18. Chapter 18

** A.N. - All standard disclaimers apply. It's not mine, I don't profit, the only intellectual property that is mine is the character of Samantha and the current story, etc. etc. etc. ~ MM**

Chapter 18

Thursday after work Sam was just finishing up at the grocery store and beginning to head to the checkout lanes when her phone rang. "Ryan." was the brisk answer thinking for sure that they were getting called in for a case. The uncertain tone coming over the phone lines however was not what she was expecting to hear.

"Hi, it's Hotch. Ah, look, I'm sorry to bother you, but is there any way you can tell me how to make that homemade macaroni and cheese that Sean made when he was here? I pulled out the blue box for Jack tonight and he is adamant that that is not really Mac n' Cheese and he wants "the good stuff" and I just can't fight this battle right now. I already tried Sean and it went to voicemail and you seemed like you knew what you were doing in the kitchen."

Sam chuckled, amused that her stoic and staid unit chief suddenly sounded like any other single parent in a panic. "Hotch, I'm at the grocery store. How about I pick up the ingredients to make it and swing by your place. Just give Jack an apple or something that won't ruin his dinner and I'll be there soon."

Hotch was relieved. She was the answer to his prayers right at that moment. Hanging up with Ryan he turned to his son. "Guess what Jack? Your Aunt Sam is coming over tonight and is gonna make Mac n' Cheese for you just like when your Uncle Sean was here. Would you like an apple or some crackers while we wait for her to get here?"

"No Daddy, I want to be extra hungry for dinner tonight." was Jack's calm reply.

Hotch was astounded. Where had the extremely grumpy child who had pushed him to make an emergency bail me out call to a subordinate disappeared to?

*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*

Sam quickly backtracked through the store to grab the ingredients for Mac n' Cheese and maple glazed carrots. She figured most kids liked carrots so it was at least worth a shot to add in a vegetable to the dinner menu. Checking out, she loaded her bags in her SUV and drove towards her Unit Chief's home.

Grabbing the bags with the Mac n' Cheese stuff she walked up to the door and knocked. Knowing that Hotch was off his game was one thing but seeing him in sweats and an FBI t-shirt with his hair disheveled was another thing entirely. "Hey." was her surprised greeting as she took in the rumpled man before her.

"Come in, can I help you with anything?" he questioned remembering his manners as she walked into his house.

"Relax Hotch, I'm here to bail you out, remember? Take a deep breath, you look like you've had a rough night and I'm willing to bet you've only been home for an hour. Just lock my Glock up and I'll get started on dinner."

Hotch accepted her sidearm and locked the door, resetting the alarm before retreating to lock her firearm in his gun safe.

Meanwhile Sam made her way to the kitchen. "Hey Jack, how are you?" was Sam's cheery greeting as she saw the little boy coloring at the table.

"Hungry Aunt Sam! Are you gonna make dinner right away?" was the boy's reply.

"Yes I am Jack. I am gonna show you and your dad how to make Mac n' Cheese, but I need you to help me, OK?"

"Yeah!" Jack cheered. He jumped up from the table eagerly while Sam and Hotch unloaded the grocery bags. Sam grabbed a kitchen chair and placed it next the sink so that Jack could climb up and reach the faucet as she watched Hotch walk back into the room. "OK young man, the first thing we do when we are going to cook is to wash our hands." she said turning the water on and helping Jack to climb up on the chair so he could reach the tall sink. "Hotch, can you pull out a pan to boil pasta please?" she asked as she and Jack suds, rinsed, and dried their hands.

Hotch handed her the pot and watched while she placed it in the sink and turned the water on. "So, we need to boil water to cook the pasta." she said as the pan filled. "You need a big pan, you need to fill it with water, and then add a little salt and a little oil so the pasta tastes good and doesn't stick." Sam pointed to a spot on the edge of the tall pot about three inches down from the upper lip. "Can you turn off the water when it gets this high and I'm gonna get the salt and the oil?" was her question to Jack.

"Yes, I can." was his excited reply.

Sam stepped away to grab the olive oil and salt that Hotch was wordlessly holding out to her before murmuring her thanks and stepping back to Jack who had just turned the water off.

"Thank you Jack, that's perfect. Now, hold out your hand."

Jack put out his hand, palm up while Sam poured a palm full of salt into it as the little boy giggled.

"That's how we know how much salt to use. Dump it in the water and then I will pour in the oil."

Jack giggled again as the grains of salt fell off his palm. Sam poured in the oil and helped Jack get down from the chair before picking up the pot and carrying it to the stove. "This is where you need your dad. We want to make the water boil before we add the pasta to cook it. To do that we need heat and you young man are just a little too young to be playing with the stove. So, let's have dad turn the stove on high and we will work on getting the cheese and everything else ready."

Sam pulled the chair Jack had been standing on over so that it was next to the sink over the counter before helping Jack back up. "Next, we need to start cooking the pancetta so that it's ready when the noodles are."

"What's pancetta?" was Jack's question. Aaron quirked an eyebrow at that question wondering how his agent was going to explain Italian ingredients to his five year old.

Sam thought for a minute. "You know what bacon is, right?"

Jack nodded solemnly and Sam chuckled. "Well," she continued, "think of pancetta as really good really thin Italian bacon. And we want to cook it until it is nice and crispy so that we can put it on top of the mac n' cheese. So, we need to cut it up into little pieces and then your dad will fry it." Sam had been working while she talked and Aaron was surprised again at how quickly she could use a knife. He barely had time to pull out a frying pan before she was handing him the cutting board. He dumped the diced pancetta into it before handing it back to her.

"Thanks" she said with a smile. "All right Jack. We are gonna wash this and then start grating the cheeses."

Aaron was surprised as he watched the interaction between his agent and his son. Sam answered all of Jacks questions and didn't seem irritated in the least by how many of them there were. She showed Jack how to the grater worked and helped him grate the cheeses while watching out for his little fingers, answered why there were so many different types of cheese, and even let him taste each type so that he could see for himself the differences. When they had bowls of shredded Cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Munster were ready the water was boiling. Sam opened up the noodle box before easily scooping up Jack and putting him on her hip as she walked to the stove.

"OK, so the water is boiling. Do you see how the bubbles keep coming to the surface one after another? That means it's ready. We are gonna add the whole box of noodles but we have to be careful that the water doesn't splash us and burn us." Sam continued to explain things as she did them and Jack was fascinated by the hiss the noodles made as they hit the water and how the water calmed.

"Hotch, would you scoop out the pancetta with a slotted spoon and put it on a paper towel to drain?"

Hotch did as she asked and then pulled out a colander and a big bowl to mix everything in. Sam and Jack cut up half a stick of butter with a table knife and added it to the bowl. Sam then showed Jack how to crack eggs and they mixed up sour cream and heavy cream with the eggs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Once the noodles were done Hotch poured them into a colander and Sam quickly dumped them into the big bowl with the butter. Jack stirred while the cheeses were added and was fascinated as they melted into the noodles. Once the egg mixture was added Sam took over stirring while Hotch and his son buttered a casserole dish. After the noodle and cheese mixture was poured in Jack carefully sprinkled the crispy pancetta bits on top. Sam slid it into the oven to bake before turning back to the boys. "Now you know how to make real mac n' cheese. Think you can do it again?"

Jack jumped up and down clapping his hands. "We can, can't we Dad?" he said cutting his eyes up to his dad for confirmation.

"Yeah, I think we can Buddy. Now, we have wait while it bakes and it is getting late. Why don't we go ahead and get your bath and PJ's now and then we can come down and eat after?"

"OK Daddy." was the youngest Hotchner's reply as he grabbed his dad's hand and pulled him up the stairs.

Hotch glanced back apologetically over his shoulder. "Will you be alright for half an hour?" he called back.

Sam chuckled. "I'll be fine." she called to his retreating figure.

Sam took a deep breath before pulling out the carrots and starting them. She got the maple glaze going, loaded the dishwasher, and slid a bottle of wine into the fridge. If Hotch didn't want a glass, she could always pull it out and take it home.

Jack came barreling back into the kitchen in his footie pajamas as she pulled the mac n' cheese out of the oven and put it on the stove. "Jack, can you and your dad set the table?"

Hotch grabbed plates and napkins while Jack carefully added forks. Hotch was ready with a hot pad for the table while Sam carried the casserole dish. He grabbed his son a glass of milk while she brought in the carrots. "What would you like to drink Sam?" was Hotch's question as he stared at the set table.

"Umm, glass of wine would be great." she replied continuing to speak when she saw his raised eyebrow. "I slid a bottle of white in your fridge earlier."

Hotch pulled the wine out and popped the cork while Sam dished up Jack's plate and cut up his carrots. Pouring them each a glass he walked to the table and handed Sam hers. They adults dished up while Jack dug in. "This is really good Aunt Sam!" came from the little boy before he was too busy eating to speak anymore.

Hotch took the time to dig in as well before speaking. "Sam, this really is amazing and coming here to bail me out was above and beyond. You're even getting Jack to eat a vegetable without an argument. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome Hotch. I get the feeling that you don't ask for help nearly often enough and if you were so cornered that you were willing to make that phone call then I'm more than happy to come over. Besides, it's nice to be able to cook for people again. I've eaten a few too many meals alone over the last few years."

The rest of the meal passed companionably. Hotch took Jack up to brush his teeth and tuck him in while Sam cleared the table and put away the leftovers. She heard Jack calling down the stairs for her.

"Yeah Buddy, what can I do for you?" was her question as she reached to bottom of the stairs.

"Will you read me my story tonight?" asked the little boy as he clutched a book and gazed down the stairs at Sam.

Sam started up the stairs with a smile. "Of course I will. Let you dad tuck you in and then we will begin."

A story and wishes for sweet dreams later, the two adults walked downstairs. "Thank you" came from Hotch. "Jack really enjoyed having you here tonight and he liked the fact you included him and explained everything to him. You're really good with children. Why don't you have any of your own?" was her boss's curious question.

Sam leaned against the counter. "That story is gonna take at least another glass of wine. Or, maybe a scotch? Do you have any?" was her sheepish question.

"Nice stalling technique Agent Ryan. Make yourself comfortable in the living room. I'll pour you a glass. Do you want it neat or on the rocks?"

Sam smiled. "Two fingers on the rocks would be perfect." she called out as she curled into one end of Hotch's couch.

Sam reached up and accepted the glass from Hotch, taking a sip before pulling a throw pillow into her lap and clutching it to her chest with her free hand.

"Sam, I'm not gonna bite and you are under no obligation to talk about your personal life with me." was Hotch's reassurance to his agent. When she didn't respond he continued. "Sam, you're displaying classic defensive posture. You're trying to protect yourself with a pillow. What's wrong?"

Sam laughed lightly. "I thought there was no inter-team profiling?" she challenged lightly.

"It doesn't take a profiler to see you're uncomfortable." was his calm reply.

Sam thought for a moment before starting. "Had life gone a little differently I would have children by now. Unfortunately as a single woman I am missing half of the equation to make that happen."

"That cryptic remark you are gonna have to explain." was her boss's reply.

"Seriously Hotch, do I have to explain the birds and the bees to you? You have a son. Obviously you figured it out on your own." she teased back.

"Point taken." Hotch conceded with a tip of his scotch glass. "So you're single. Why not date?"

Sam set down her scotch glass and pulled at her collar, drawing out a set of dog tags before fingering them.

"I thought you said you were never military?" was the question offered by her boss and he mentally reviewed her file. There was no mention of military service, he was sure of it.

Sam took a deep breath. "I was never in the military. My fiancé was. Michael was a Marine Corps sniper who was killed in action almost three years ago. The man that I danced with at the ball, the one the team wondered why he was walking so stilted, that was Michael's spotter. He was injured in the same attack where Michael was killed. That's how I knew him and that's why I was so pissed that you guys pried into my life instead of asking me. Michael was on his last tour of duty, he only had eleven months left on his commitment and his tour was only going to last three more weeks before he was scheduled to be rotated state-side. He was planning on leaving the Corps and applying to the FBI and NCIS. So yes, if he hadn't have been killed I would have gotten married and hopefully had a child by now. But evidently Fate had other plans."

Hotch was stunned. This was not what he had expected from this story. Suddenly the young woman in front of him looked older somehow. "I'm sorry Samantha. I know that doesn't make anything better, but know that I am sorry and that I sympathize."

Sam sniffled and cleared her throat picking her scotch back up. "Thanks Hotch. And I'm sorry about Hailey. Michael was a casualty of war and it didn't leave me any one person to hate. You knew Foyet. I don't know how you deal with what happened every day."

Hotch laughed mirthlessly. "Slowly. Moment by moment never knowing when the next time something will remind me of that bastard and what he took from my son." Hotch paused and took another sip of his scotch. "How did you know about Foyet?"

"It's become something of an urban legend around the FBI. It was brought to my attention when I accepted the transfer to the BAU. My old partner was pissed I was leaving and was trying to change my mind. He thought telling me that my new boss had beaten a man to death with his bare hands would be enough to deter me. Shows how little he knew. It only made me want to work for you more."

"So now I'm an urban legend?" Hotch scoffed before draining his scotch.

Sam took a sip of hers before replying. "Would it help to know that most agents are convinced you never blink, never smile, and don't actually require sleep." she teased with a smile. "We both know none of that is true."

Hotch cracked a small smile. "Yeah, maybe it does."

"Actually Hotch, I had been meaning to talk to you. I just didn't know how to bring this up at the office. Monday is the three year anniversary of Michael's death and I have never been in Virginia on the anniversary before. I would very much like to visit his grave at Arlington with his dad. If we aren't on a case, can I have a personal day?"

"Of course. Take the day but keep your phone on; I won't call if we don't need you."

"Thanks Hotch, I really appreciate it." came softly from Sam.

"Never let it be said that I don't grant reasonable requests even if I don't blink, don't smile, and don't sleep." he teased back.

Sam was amazed. Her unit chief was actually human, as neurotic and insecure as the rest of them just amazing at hiding it and putting on a controlled front. Draining the last of the scotch in her glass she stood up. "Thanks again Hotch. This was a surprisingly good evening but I should head home. I'm sure Warrick wants his dinner."

"Warrick?" was Hotch's question as he walked her to the door.

"My dog. I let him out before I went to the store but I was planning on feeding him when I got home. His dinner is now a few hours late."

Hotch retrieved her sidearm while she pulled on her jacket. Handing her it back he said "Thank you again Agent Ryan. We'll see you at the office tomorrow."

Sam chuckled as she walked out the door and slid into her SUV. Hotch closed the door and rearmed the security system thinking that it was a damn shame his brother didn't have a chance in hell with Sam and thinking that Morgan better not mess up his.

**A.N. - Hope you all enjoyed the insight into Sam's past. More will be coming shortly. Next up, Vegas! ~ M.M.**


	19. Chapter 19

*A.N. - All standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Criminal Minds. I don't profit from Criminal Minds. I wish I did. ~M.M.*

Chapter 19

Damn phone! She could feel it vibrating in her pocket. If it wasn't work or Chuck there was no way in hell she was gonna answer it here. Seeing Morgan's number she answered. "Ryan." was all she bit out.

"Where are you?" was the terse question on the other end of the line.

Sam took in a deep breath through her mouth before slowly letting it out through her nose. "Arlington." was the one word reply.

"What the hell are you doing in Arlington?" demanded Morgan.

"That's between me and Hotch." was her stiff reply.

Morgan swore softly. "Well, you are about an hour out, depending on where you are in the city. We gotta case and we gotta move now. We'll be ready to go wheels up when you get here."

"I'll be on the interstate in less than five and I'll head straight to the airstrip."

"Sam, get here in one piece but hurry, a kid's missing in Vegas and the last kid that went missing like this around there turned up dead. We need to get boots on the ground, fast."

Morgan heard the quick intake of breath on the other end of the phone as she processed his statement. "Rolling now Morgan. I assume we can brief on the plane?" was her quick reply.

"See you soon Sam."

Sam hung up before turning back to the white tombstone she had been standing in front of. Dropping to one knee she brushed her fingers over the letters of the name again before whispering "I'm so sorry Michael, I have to go. I love you." Sam stood up quickly and began to walk briskly to her car brushing away the stray tears that had managed to fall and squaring her shoulders. She had a job to do and an Unsub wasn't going to wait while she cried.

Sam pulled her car next to the rest of the team's and jumped out, grabbing her go bag out of the trunk and hitting the locking button on her key fob as she jogged to the jet. As she put her left hand out to grab the railing of the stairs leading into the plane she realized she forgot to take her engagement ring off. 'Damn!' she swore softly under her breath. There was no way she could stop, take it off, and run it back to her car. They were already waiting for her to board so they could go. Thinking fast, she reached out with the thumb on her left hand and skated the stone so it faced downwards and only a thin metal band was visible on the outside of her finger. She switched her bag from her right to her left hand so that the knuckles would be facing down as she walked on and stowed her bag. Hopefully, she could pull off the ring before anyone noticed.

Morgan was aggravated. Why hadn't Sam been at work that morning and why where they waiting on her? She was too new to the unit for Hotch to have sent her off on her own on an assignment or to give a profile. Why had Hotch had him call her to get an ETA? What the hell had she been doing in Arlington, Virginia on a Monday anyway?

Sam quickly stepped into the jet and heading straight to the back to stow her bag. She loaded her go bag into the overhead compartment and, with her back to the team, pulled the tags out from under her collar. She slid the ring off and clipped it onto the chain before quickly tucking the tags back into her shirt. Letting out a soft sigh she relaxed. She had done it. Now she could just focus on work. Then she turned and almost walked straight into Morgan.

"What?" was her snapped question.

"Pump your brakes darlin'. Just wanted to make sure you got your stuff stowed."

Sam was taken aback. Was he trying to be genuinely helpful or was he trying to get answers? "Thanks, I'm good." was the clipped reply she gave as she brushed past him.

Morgan thought that whole interaction was strange. She had had a ring on the third finger of her left hand when she first walked by him and judging from the way her ring finger stuck out slightly from the handle of her bag, that ring had a stone on it that she was trying to hide. Then she hid it on the chain she always wore before tucking that chain back into her shirt and showing visible signs of relief. Morgan walked back to the seating area of the jet, wondering about what he just saw and deciding to keep an eye on Sam for more clues as to just what was going on.

The trip to Vegas was uneventful. They broke into groups as soon as they hit the ground with JJ and Reid heading to the field office to set up, corral the media, and start on a geographical profile while Emily and a local field agent went to interview the deceased child's family and Rossi and Hotch went to interview the family of the last child taken. Morgan and Ryan headed towards the most recent abduction site trying to garner insight on their kidnapper. Unfortunately, Sam's old partner, Agent Brett Andrews, was running point on the case and decided to drive them.

The car ride to the last abduction site was long. Brett kept trying to interject comments and draw Sam into conversation. She had slid into the back seat and was keeping her attention focused on her tablet and the case file before she broke her silence.

"Morgan, I think there is a pattern here. The Unsub is abducting kids in broad daylight but look at these crime scene photos." came from Sam as she passed her tablet up to Morgan in the passenger seat.

"What are you seeing Princess?" was Morgan's smooth reply as he began to view the images on screen.

Agent Andrews cocked an eyebrow at the use of the pet name and turned his head slightly so that he could pay closer attention to his former partner in the back seat and still keep one eye on the road.

"Damn it Morgan, I told you not to call me Princess." was the automatic reply from Sam. "Pay attention to the alley. That is the only place the Unsub could have hidden and waited without being noticed. The entire area is too open and has too much foot traffic for someone not to have seen them if they waited anywhere else. Besides, the alley also gave them an excellent place to conceal a vehicle to move the abducted child in."

Morgan studied the images for a moment before pulling out his cell phone and dialing.

"Office of Omnipotence, the Empiress of the Digital World speaking. Make me sweat Hot Stuff." came purring out over the speaker.

Morgan grinned as Agent Andrews shot him a confused look. "Hey Baby Girl, you're on speaker so keep it clean. I need you to work your magic and look up recent aerial photographs of our two abduction sights. If you can hack a satellite and find images from the exact times of the abductions you would make my year. If you can't, just get us recent photos to give us the lay of the land. And send them to our tablets as soon as you get them, please."

"Aww," Garcia purred over the phone, "you're asking me to violate national security protocols and hack the CIA for you. That is so sweet. I accept the challenge my Chocolate Stud Muffin. I'll get you what I can. Garcia out."

"Who or what was that?" was the question from the driver's seat.

Sam chuckled at Brett's bewildered look as the click of an ending phone call resonated through the car. "That's our Penelope. Best fingers in the FBI. If it is, was, or could be in digital format she will find it for us."

"Baby Girl does have mad skills, doesn't she?" chimed in Morgan.

Brett pulled over in a combination residential and business neighborhood. Morgan and Sam both went on the alert as they stepped out of the car and, turning, took in their surroundings.

"It really is an urban jungle, isn't it?" breathed Sam.

"I grew up in an urban jungle Princess. This feels like home with a twist of bright lights." was shot back by Morgan.

Brett watched as each agent approached the abduction sight differently. Morgan slid into the alley, hiding around corners, checking angles. Sam pulled down a fire escape and began to climb.

"What are you doing?" asked Brett as he watched Sam ascend the ladders and worm her way up the fire escape.

"Playing to our strengths." called Sam over her shoulder as she pulled herself up onto the roof.

Brett continued to watch as Morgan blocked out all of the noise and distraction and put himself in the place of the Unsub. His posture changed, he shrank against the wall; he seemed almost twitchy as his eyes darted from side to side.

Sam leaned over the rooftop. "Morgan, I'm not the first one that's been up here. Come up and see."

Morgan straightened and quickly climbed the fire escape with Brett on his heels. "What caught your eye?" he inquired as he pulled himself onto the roof.

"Look at this. You have an incredible vantage point without risking exposure. The view is almost 270º and I am concealed from people on the street. This is the place to play king of the mountain around here. And look at the debris. Nobody comes up here except for the person who disturbed the dirt before me."

Morgan took a minute to take in what Sam was telling him, glancing around the rooftop. He dropped to a crouch and found that he could just peer over the edge. Sam, meantime, had moved to the other end of the roof and was looking up at the sun.

"What time of day was the last abduction and how long ago was the first abduction?" she asked.

"The first boy was abducted 10 days ago and this boy was taken at 8:45 am this morning." was the terse reply from Agent Andrews. "And how is looking at the sun going to tell you anything about that?"

"Simple. This morning that area would have been cast in a shadow. Our Unsub sat up here virtually invisible. He watched his target, learned both that little boy's routine and the routine of the neighborhood, and picked the perfect time to strike."

Morgan folded his arms and squared his shoulders. "Let's call Hotch and see if we can go to that first abduction sight. I will bet you that the abduction sight will be just like this one. We are hunting an Unsub that likes to hide in plain sight."

*A.N. - I am hoping the writer's block is over. Greyhound Girl, thank you again for being a truly awesome beta and for the unlimited encouragement. To all of the people who have read this story, alerted, favorited, personal messaged, and reviewed I thank you. I am deeply humbled that there is enough interest in this story that it has been viewed almost 15,000 times. When I started writing this I had no idea that there would be anywhere near this level of interest in my little story. ~M.M*


	20. Chapter 20

*A.N. – Remember this story is rated M for things like the language in this chapter. Please don't say you weren't warned about the profanity. And like a broken record, I still don't own, don't profit, etc. etc. etc. ~M.M.*

Chapter 20

The team was packing up. Morgan and Sam's observations had lead to an almost 30 hour sprint that had cornered their Unsub and located their missing child. The Unsub had unfortunately chosen to take his own life once cornered and it left a slightly bitter taste in the team's mouth. It was early afternoon, the jet still needed to be fueled and pilots had just started filing flight plans and performing the preflight checks. They wouldn't be leaving till at least six. Sam's old partner was loitering watching the team as they prepared to leave.

"Spar with me Sam. You have the time and nobody around here has the skill set you do. You've only been gone for a little while and I'm already getting rusty." Brett cajoled her.

Sam thought about it. This man was her former partner but she really just wanted to get away from him, get out of Vegas, and get back home. "I don't know…" she started before being cut off by Hotch.

"Go, Sam. You'll probably feel better if you let some of this case go. And at least you'll have a sparring partner who knows what he is getting into for a change." Hotch encouraged.

Sam took a deep breath and avoided eye contact with Brett. "I'll need to stop by the hotel and grab some clothes. Meet you at the gym in twenty?" was her quiet question.

Brett smiled. "It's a date."

Sam grabbed a set of keys to an SUV before striding out the door. Brett had a self satisfied smirk on his face as he locked up his sidearm and walked off in the direction of the Bureau gymnasium. Morgan took a moment to pause in packing before slumping into a chair and addressing Emily. "I don't like it." was the simple comment.

Emily raised her head in surprise. "You don't like what?"

Morgan let out a snort while fighting not to grind his teeth together. "Sam. Agent Andrews. I don't like it."

Emily paused for a moment to process. Sure, Sam didn't exactly seem to take to her former partner with open arms, but she had been cordial. And she had just agreed to spend time with him without too much arm twisting. "Morgan, I'm not completely sure what you are talking about."

Morgan brought his gaze level with Emily's. "Prentiss, I know we aren't supposed to profile each other, but haven't you noticed she tries not to be next to him. She wasn't thrilled when she found out he was running point on this case. She was in a strange mood even before getting on the jet to come to Vegas and now this. I just don't want that man anywhere near our Sam."

"Our Sam or your Sam?" was Emily's calm question.

"What?" was Morgan's shocked reply.

Emily sighed. "Look, Derek, I know you think of yourself as the unofficial big brother to me and JJ and Reid and Garcia. But with Sam you want too much. You don't look at her in a brotherly fashion. You get this look in your eye that I've never seen before; this deep, serious look that I'm not completely sure how to interpret. And now you seem to be taking it just a little too far. Sam's a big girl. She can take care of herself. She can kill with her bare hands for Christ's sake! So, let it go Derek, before it drives you crazy. I'm telling you as a friend. Just let whatever this irrational line of thought is go."

Morgan slumped in the chair elbows on his knees and head resting in his hands. What was he doing? Sam wasn't his and probably wasn't ever gonna be his. Why the hell should he care if she wiped the mats with a sleazy ex-partner. Hell, that might even be just the thing to get her out of the slump she had been in. Morgan stood up. "I'll meet you back at the hotel. Text me when you know what time we take off. Don't wanna miss the jet."

Emily was flabbergasted. Morgan was just leaving? What the hell? "What are you going to do?"

Morgan shot a smirk over his shoulder as he walked out of the conference room. "It's Vegas baby, what won't I do?"

Morgan approached the gym but stayed to the side of the doors. He wanted to get a feel for what was going on before just barging in. He heard Sam and Brett talking and decided to stay where he was and just listen.

"Two taps to get you out Brett. Let me know when I've inflicted enough damage." was Sam's calm order.

"Oh baby, you know I don't mind." he teased back before Morgan heard a sudden thud and an "OOOHHHFFFF" that he was sure came from a certain smart ass agent that he was growing to dislike more and more by the minute.

"You really should be prepared. Not even a beginner should have let me flip them that easily. Again." was Sam terse comment.

Morgan again heard the sounds of bodies hitting mats before two definite slaps. He chuckled. That was another fast pin.

"Come on, Brett. Are you actually trying here?" was Sam's irritated question.

"Maybe I'm just enjoying the feel of you rubbing up against me." was the teasing reply. Morgan was debating walking in there and introducing her former partner to his own skill set before he heard a series of blows followed by the sounds of a body again being flipped and pinned.

"Try again Agent Andrews." came from Sam. Derek wondered just how far down her eyebrows were pulled at this moment. You could hear the irritation in her voice from where he was standing. 'This jackass is really taking his life in his hands.' was all Morgan could think.

Morgan heard bodies scrambling to rise before that walking irritant began to talk again. "Sam, come on. You're so tense. Just let me take care of you. A few hours in bed and a couple of orgasms would do you a world of good."

Morgan's own eyebrows took a downward dive as he scowled at the proposition he had just heard.

"I don't do casual sex Brett. You know that. I turned you down for years before moving. If I had wanted to fuck you, I would have done it by now." was her icy reply.

'Take the hint man.' was all Morgan could think before again hearing bodies collide and one hit the mats.

"Michael's dead. You know that Sam. What's the harm in moving on?" was Brett's reply as he again pulled himself up from flat on his ass.

Sam was pissed; the emotions she had been holding in since Virginia finally coming to a boil on the surface of her mind. "I know he's dead Agent Andrews! I had just transferred here when I got that phone call, remember? I flew back home and his father and I buried him. I watched him get lowered into ground and I couldn't help but wonder how the sun could be shinning and it could be such a beautiful day when I was in so damn much pain I could barely stand and my future came crashing down cold and lonely around me. I buried the man I loved before I even had a chance to marry him and my forever was taken away in a heartbeat. So, yes, Brett, I accept and acknowledge the fact that he's dead. But that doesn't mean that I am gonna fuck a sorry son-of-a bitch like you just because I suddenly find myself available." With that Sam launched into a series of blows that left her former partner trying to pick himself up off of the ground while she all but ran for the locker rooms. Morgan decided to let her go, let her alone for a minute while he concentrated on not walking in and pounding that snake into the mats until his bones broke. Then he thought better of it and casually strolled into the gym.

He watched the agent lying on the floor in front of him. The man was flat on his back and he had an arm thrown over his eyes while he tried to regain his breath.

"She's a handful, isn't she." was the conversation starter from the profiler.

Brett pulled his arm off of his face as Morgan began to speak. "Nothing I can't handle I assure you." was the smug, slightly possessive reply from the agent on the ground.

Morgan laughed mirthlessly. Brett had a smug, cocky nature that lead him to be blinded to the thinly veiled loathing that Sam tried so hard to hide.

Morgan moved in a slow saunter around the circle on the mat where Brett lay. "I don't know Agent Andrews. If I was a betting man, I would put my money on her. You had years to land her if you were ever going to. And what about the fraternization rules? You can't date a fellow agent. What, did you think she was going to quit the FBI and become a housewife for you to cheat on with some young thing in a skirt? Get real man! Sam is far too smart to fall in bed with someone like you."

Morgan had watched the other agent's body language as he spoke. He saw the tensing of the muscles and the raising color in his face. He knew that he was hitting home with every word. And he wasn't surprised when Brett came flying up at him.

Morgan let the other man's anger work for him. He simply moved to the side, gripping Brett's arm and using the man's own momentum against him as he sailed through the air and landed on the mats. Morgan held onto the man's arm, forcing it to remain extended and twisting his hand back causing the agent on the ground to grimace in pain and attempt to struggle.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you." was the calm order from Morgan. The slow steady cadence of his words was a contrast to the anger in his eyes. "The more you struggle, the greater the chance that you will dislocate your thumb or worse. Now, lay there and listen." was the clear order.

"Listen to what?!" was hissed up at Morgan.

"Listen to the fact that Sam wants nothing to do with you. Now, leave her alone, before you bite off more than you can chew." With that he flung down the other man's arm and strode purposefully out of the gym. He rounded the corner and stopped outside of the women's locker room trying to focus on slowing his heart rate and getting his anger under control.

After a few minutes Sam walked out and stopped short when she saw Morgan casually leaning against the wall. She raised an eyebrow at the other agent.

Morgan just shot her his patented Derek Morgan high beam smile. "Maybe I wanted to see how badly you were gonna kick his ass?" was the only explanation offered.

Sam let out a small snort. "Sure you did." she said as she began to walk back down the hall. Derek fell into step with her. "Did you enjoy the show?"

Morgan just chuckled. "Was he always that cocky?" was the question shot back at her.

"Pretty much." was practically bitten back out at him through clenched teeth. "Now you know why my car is so close to being done."

"So that was how you did it? Avoid your partner at all costs by hiding at home, hmmm?" Teased Morgan until a thought popped into his head. "How did you manage to keep him from stopping by your house?"

Sam let out a slightly wicked chuckle and had glint in her eye. "It's simple really. My dog doesn't like him. As in really, really doesn't like him. He came around once and Warrick acted like I had never seen him act before. His hair was up, his ears were back, and his head was down. He didn't want to let Brett get anywhere near me. All of which tells me that my dog has excellent judgment. And for as much as I don't like Brett, the man isn't dumb enough to come around where either my dog or my shotgun can take a bite out of his ass."

As the two agents shared a laugh Morgan's phone beeped. He checked the message and grinned. "So, Prentiss says the jet is having some mechanical problem and we are stuck in Sin City for the night. I guess she had Baby Girl look up the best places to eat and the team is meeting for dinner at Pearl. Then we have the night off to have a little fun in America's Playground. Think we can manage to talk Reid into a drinking game and get him wasted?"

Sam chuckled. "Just what drinking game can we possibly beat Reid in? He is a genius with an eidetic memory. We are gonna be crawling on the jet tomorrow if we try to do that."

*A.N. – So, they are in Sin City. Where will this lead…. ~M.M.*


	21. Chapter 21

*A.N. – again, rated M for some mild profanity. My disclaimer also has to expand to include the fact that not only do I not own Criminal Minds but I also don't own the songs that are cited in this chapter. Again, wish I did as the royalties would be sweet. ~M.M.*

Chapter 21

Dinner was relaxing. Conversation flowed easily and Rossi even picked up the tab. The team wasn't used to having the time to relax and didn't want the night to end. Emily and JJ talked the team into going out en mass for a drink and Sam, being the former local, recommended a little club not too far off the strip.

The music wrapped around the team as they walked in. There was a small dance floor, darts, and a long, wraparound bar. The team settled at an out of the way table and ordered their first round. JJ cajoled Reid into a game of darts and the team laughed at his attempts to beat their former media liaison.

"Don't feel bad Spence," were JJ's comforting words as they walked back to the table. "Where I grew up the only things to do were throw darts and bowl. So you just naturally got very, very good at both of them."

Spencer just scowled and picked up his drink.

Morgan reached over and ruffled his hair. "I got just the thing to cure you. Let me order you a shot and then maybe you'll have the courage to go chat up that little thing in the corner that has been watching you since we came in."

"Morgan!" was Reid's protest as he tried to tuck his hair back behind his ears. "First of all, alcohol doesn't actually give you courage. It simply lowers your inhibitions and makes it more likely for you to act on your impulses. Secondly, the chances of some 'little thing'" he punctuated with air quotes "being interested in me in an establishment like this are minimal. I stick out with my scholastic mode of dress. In plain English, it is obvious that I am a geek. Besides, what am I going to talk to her about, my next PhD?" Reid finished, looking slightly cross.

"Ok, well, I am going to get you that shot anyway. Anybody else for another round?"

Rossi, Prentiss, and JJ all agreed and Morgan walked up to the bar. Sam sat talking engrossed in conversation with their unit chief. Belatedly, she realized what Morgan had asked. Looking down at her almost empty glass she just gave her head a small shake. "Guess I should have taken Morgan up on his offer." she said to Hotch. Glancing at the bar and the number of glasses the bar tender had out she quickly analyzed the situation. "Either I just miscounted or Morgan is gonna need a hand. I'll be right back Hotch." she said picking up her glass and walking towards the bar. She got the attention of a bartender by Morgan, separated from her fellow agent by the small flock of women that had magically flocked to him and was waiting for her drink when she felt someone move up behind her.

"Sam, didn't think I would see you here tonight." was Brett's greeting, even though he had heard at the office that the BAU team would be in the city for one more night. With this knowledge, he set out to Sam's favorite bar hoping that she would stop in for a drink. "Why don't you dance with me Sam."

Sam was momentarily stunned. When did Brett get there? Why was he there? Feeling her relaxation rapidly be replaced by tension as she wondered just how long it was going to take to mix that drink she replied "I really don't dance Brett."

"Come on Samantha, just one dance, for old time's sake." was the pleading response from Brett. He wanted to get her in his arms tonight and had requested the song currently playing as an excuse to get her on the dance floor.

Sam wondered how he had managed to corner her at the bar and why she didn't see him come in. She should have just let Morgan get her a refill when he offered. Now here she stood, stuck. "Don't call me Samantha. And since when did we dance in the old times?" was almost bitten out by Sam.

"What's the harm? You are getting on a plane and going back to Virginia in the morning. Come on. Besides, you know you love Def Leppard." he cajoled.

"It's simple. I just don't want to." she said firmly, picking her drink and heading back to the table where the rest of her team sat at. Damn man just wouldn't take a hint!

Morgan followed her back to the table with the tray of drinks for the team. He had overheard most of the conversation as he was fending off the group that had gathered around him. 'This guy just doesn't know when to quit, first the gym, now the bar. How did she put up with this shit for three years? The guy was supposed to have been her partner, not be trying to get into her pants every time she turned around.' was all he could think as he made his way back. Morgan's protective instincts made themselves known and he decided to take action that would make the slimy agent quit his pursuit. The easiest way to do that would be to make him think she was already taken. Setting down the tray he grabbed Sam's hand and pulled her onto the dance floor before wrapping his arms around her and whispering in her ear. "Just go with it Princess. Let him think you're taken so he backs off and leaves you in peace tonight."

Sam tucked her head under Morgan's chin and leaned into him, allowing him to hold her close as she followed his lead.

_I don't wanna fight no more, I don't know what we're fighting for_

_When we treat each other baby like an act of war_

_I could tell a million lies, it would come as no surprise_

_When the truth is like a stranger, hits you right between the eyes_

Sam was surprised. They fit together well. She found herself enjoying the smell of Derek's cologne and the feel of his arms around her just a little too much. 'This is all for show, it isn't real.' was the mantra she kept repeating in her head.

_There's a time and a place and a reason_

_And I know I got a love to believe in_

_All I know, got to win this time_

_Without you, one night alone is like a year without you baby_

_Do you have a heart of stone?_

_Without you, can't stop the hurt inside when love and hate collide_

Morgan shifted her in his arms to hold her a little closer. He had been sneaking glances at Brett. The man was positively pissed. He didn't mind that he didn't have Sam as long as nobody else did either. How could the man work with her for that long and not understand how she thought or how she felt? And just who was this fiancé? Morgan planned on getting the full story but for now, he just wanted Sam to have a night's worth of freedom from having to constantly play defense. He bent his head and softly sang the next few lines of the song in her ear.

_You could have a change of heart if you would only change your mind_

_Cause I'm crazy 'bout you baby, crazy, crazy_

Sam shut her eyes. 'Just play it up for Brett' she told herself. 'It's not real.' It was getting harder and harder to convince herself of that as she felt Derek's breath ghost in her ear and heard the words he was singing to her.

_Without you, one night alone is like a year without you baby_

_Do you have a heart of stone?_

_Without you, one night alone is like a year without you baby_

_If you have a heart at all?_

_Without you, can't stop the hurt inside when love and hate collide _

Sam began to pull out of Morgan's embrace as the song ended. "Nu'uh Princess. He paid for the whole show and we gotta give it to him. You go back now and he is gonna try to pull the same trick. Just enjoy the music. I can tell you like to dance, so dance with me."

Sam allowed Morgan to tuck himself behind her and began to move with her to the beat.

_Everybody in the club right now, tell the DJ to turn it loud_

_Dedicate man your favorite song, single ladies you can't go wrong_

_Everybody in the club right now, tell the DJ to turn it loud_

_Dedicate man your favorite song_

_If you came here by yourself tonight, cause he wouldn't pick up the phone_

_He was suppose to bring you here tonight, couldn't find him so you came alone_

_It don't matter cause you're here now and the music you're enjoying_

_So for the next couple minutes, baby I'ma be your boyfriend_

Sam's head spun. How had he managed to fit their bodies together that well? And where did he get off singing to her again?

_Pretty Momma if you're single, single, _

_You don't gotta be alone tonight_

_So why the DJ play that single, single_

_Just pretend that I'm your man tonight_

Sam shivered. 'Just pretend that I'm your man tonight' was too tempting to hear when it was coming from his lips. The problem was she really wouldn't mind claiming Derek as hers. She had to get Derek to stop whispering the words to her. She turned her head to speak to him. "Morgan, you gotta stop that." ghosted out of her mouth. Morgan turned her and pulled her back into his embrace facing him as they continued to move to the beat.

_So you don't gotta be alone, I'll be your boyfriend_

_So you don't gotta be alone, girl I'll be your boyfriend_

_So you don't gotta be alone, baby I'll be your boyfriend_

_Be your boyfriend till the song goes off_

"And why is that Princess?" as he continued to do it, this time with her front tucked securely against his, almost a little closer than was decent to pull off this charade and felt a fine tremor move through Sam again as he continued.

_He don't tell you that you're beautiful, let me tell it to you to the beat_

_He don't tell you that he loves you girl, let me sing it in a harmony_

_Let my song get you higher, we never have to come back down_

_And if ever you should miss me, just have the DJ run it back now_

Sam squeezed her eyes shut. "Too much Derek, too much. There's a spot on my neck under my ear and you manage to keep tickling it with your breath. This is all supposed to be for show, remember, and you're killing me." was the plea that Sam gave.

_Pretty Momma if your singe, single_

_You don't' gotta be alone tonight_

_So while the DJ run that single, single,_

_Just pretend that I'm your man tonight_

_So you don't gotta be alone, I'll be your boyfriend_

_So you don't gotta be alone, girl I'll be your boyfriend_

_So you don't gotta be alone, baby I'll be your boyfriend_

_Be your boyfriend till the song goes off_

Brett was seeing red as he stood at the table with the rest of the BAU team waiting for Sam to be done dancing. He put three years of ground work in. Then she transfers to Quantico for a just a few months and allows this cretin to get all over her. How could she! "I see the little tramp acts fast or maybe your man Morgan just can't keep it in his pants." he spit out.

Five identical glares turned on him and the team moved in unison to stand and move towards Brett. Hotch was the first to recover drawing on his years as a prosecutor to keep this conversation diplomatic. "Agent Ryan and Agent Morgan's personal relationship, whatever it may be, is not subject to your approval. They are two of the finest agents that I have ever worked with and I don't have any problem with the two of them choosing to relieve stress by dancing in their off duty hours." He didn't do it often, but Hotch decided to profile the other agent to put him in his place. "You, on the other hand, have had less than stellar intentions towards your ex-partner for years. It bothered you that she didn't fall into your arms, didn't it? And it bothered you that she was accepted into the BAU and transferred. I am willing to bet that she applied for and accepted the position without any input from you. And I am also willing to bet that it was your idea to call in the BAU to assist on this case as you wanted an excuse to get her in the same city with you again. You are going to need to accept that Agent Ryan is not only a grown woman in full control of her own actions and life, but that she has actively chosen to not have you be a part of that life."

Brett knew when he was outnumbered. No doubt these agents would defend one of their own. He just didn't like losing and wasn't one to give up easily. Deciding he was outnumbered he quit the company of the other agents and stalked to the bar for another drink.

Morgan had noticed the standoff over Sam's shoulder. He also noticed that while the other agent was willing to back down from the BAU as a group, he wasn't leaving. "Time to step it up another notch Princess." he whispered down to Sam.

Sam looked up at Morgan. "Hmmm?"

Morgan chuckled. "Take your hair down."

Sam pulled back a bit in his arms. "Why?"

"Cause your boy over there ain't quite getting the hint." Morgan reached up and pulled the rubber band holding her hair in a pony tail out slipping it around his wrist. Sam reached up and ran her fingers through her hair to smooth it into a more manageable mess while Morgan returned his hands to her hips. "Profiling 101 darlin'. Women typically play with their hair when they are interested in the man they are flirting with. And men love to reach over and play with their girl's hair. We're tactile creatures."

Morgan easily turned her again in his arms as the song changed pressing his body behind hers and nuzzling her ear. He reached out and pulled her hair behind her ear and swept it all to one side of her neck. "So, where is that spot that drives you wild?" he asked before beginning to kiss his way down the side of her neck.

At the bar Brett couldn't take it anymore. He slammed down his drink and stormed out. Morgan took in his departure with an almost feral grin before returning his attention to the woman in his arms. She didn't seem to notice that their audience had gone.

*A.N. – As promised, it is getting there. There are a chunk of readers who have said enough already, just have them jump in the sack. But, the story isn't there yet. And at this point my original quick outline has been expanded and chapters have been moved and it is grown into something that has taken on a life of its own. I hope that you all stay with me as the story plays out and I hope you are all enjoying it as much as I am.

The songs used are When Love and Hate Collide by Def Leppard and Single by New Kids on the Block featuring Ne-Yo. And even though New Kids music doesn't have enough rock in it to be my usual music, I heard the song at a friend's house and it felt the lyrics fit for this chapter. ~M.M.*


	22. Chapter 22

*A.N. – All standard disclaimers apply. And I got to add Garcia back into the mix in this chapter and I love both her and the actress who plays her so perfectly, Ms. Kirsten Vangsness! ~M.M.*

Chapter 22

At the BAU table JJ and Emily were practically twittering. They knew Morgan would do just about anything to protect the members of their little family, but they were pretty sure he had noticed that Sam's old partner had given up and left the bar. So why hadn't the two come back to the table yet? Emily couldn't take it anymore. "We gotta call PG. If she has to find out about this second hand she will kill us all."

"Wait, watch, I've got an idea." JJ said. She hooked up with Garcia on video chat on her phone and then propped it up against an empty beer glass and angled it to catch the pair of agents on the dance floor and put it on speaker. "What do you think Pen?"

Squealing could be heard from over the speakerphone even in the crowded bar. "My chocolate god of thunder and my third Charlie's Angel shaking it out on the dance floor?! How did this happen? I need details people!"

Hotch decided to take over. If he left it up to the girls he was going to feel like he was at a high school slumber party. "Ryan's old partner was hassling her to give him more than she obviously wanted to so Morgan decided to make it look like she was already taken."

Garcia nodded. "And where is said spit wad of an old partner now?"

"He got angry and left about 5 minutes ago. Why?" replied Hotch.

Garcia continued, speaking as though she was dealing with a five year old. "And, they saw him leave?"

Hotch nodded. "Well, Morgan did, at least."

"Boss man, you are so clueless sometimes." Garcia burst out. "Why would they still be out there if he's gone? Why wouldn't they have just come back to the table? It's because they _want_ to be out there. Ooooh!" Garcia squealed again. "My master plan is working. They are falling for each other!"

Rossi felt the need to step in. "Garcia, I really don't think Morgan is looking to settle down."

"Don't be such a downer. Just because you have three failed marriages doesn't mean Derek and Sam can't be happy. And trust me, they look happy! Look at him, he can't keep his hands in one place. And look at her, she is letting him." Garcia began to chant "Sam and Derek sitting in a tree…"

JJ and Emily joined in at the "K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes..."

"Enough." was the command from Hotch.

"Wait, what does that mean?" was the question from Reid. "Emily refused to explain that rhyme the last time it was brought up."

"Reid, seriously? I simply cannot explain to a thirty year old genius the kissing song." was Emily's stunned reply.

Rossi tried to bring her down a notch. "Take it easy on the boy. He never interacted with his age group growing up." he admonished the girls. As he explained the kissing song to Reid the others continued to watch Morgan and Sam.

After almost an hour Hotch broke the tension. "They've had their fun and we have an early flight. Let's call it a night." Coats were gathered and tabs were settled. Hotch walked out to the dance floor and tapped Morgan on the shoulder. "Time to head in." was the stated command before he turned on his heel and left.

Sam pulled out of Morgan's arms and looked at him. After spending as much time as she did pressed against the man she was suddenly shy. "I guess we should go…"

Morgan took in the sight of Sam. Her hair was mussed from where he had run his hands through it over and over again. Her pupils were dilated. Her breathing was rapid and shallow. He didn't want to let her go. Pulling her close he brushed his lips against her temple. "Alright Princess. Thank you for the dance."

Sam felt off balance. "Thank you for saving me. I know you probably didn't plan on spending your night off in Sin City this way."

Morgan chuckled. "Princess, if I had any real objection, I would have let you go when that scumbag walked out of here almost an hour ago."

"What?" Sam almost squeaked. What did that mean? Was Morgan actually dancing with her because he wanted to or because there was no one else available or why?

Seeing the confusion and conflict in her eyes Morgan sought to ease her fears. "Pump your brakes darlin'. We both enjoyed ourselves. Let's just leave it at that."

Sam let Morgan lead her off the dance floor and back to the table where the others were waiting. She pulled on her coat and followed the others out to the SUVs almost mechanically. She was lost in her thoughts until they got to the hotel. Morgan grabbed her hand in the lobby, preventing her from following JJ and Emily to their room. "Princess, hold up." he said and waited for everyone else to leave. "Don't do it. I see the wheels turning but don't go for a run to clear your head tonight. I don't know what Brett is thinking but I don't want to have to worry about you out there and I don't want to have to camp out in front of your hotel room to make sure you stay in it. Just let it go, at least until tomorrow when we are safely home."

"Why Morgan, just answer me why?" fell from her lips and he knew that she wasn't talking about her going running.

"Because I wanted to and you wanted to too. Goodnight Princess." and with that he pulled the hand he was holding up and brushed the back of her knuckles with a kiss before dropping her hand and walking down the hall to the elevators to go to his room.

"Shit." Sam breathed. Deciding she couldn't stay the night in the lobby, she headed towards the stairs, knowing that she really didn't want to be locked in a small metal box with Derek Morgan right now and taking the stairs would let him be safely in his room before she walked to hers.

Sam slid the key card into her hotel room door and walked into her room, leaning against the door as it shut. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before walking into the main part of the room where Emily and JJ were waiting. "Ooooh! How did you enjoy dancing with Derek?" was the question from JJ.

Sam slumped to a seat at the foot of one of the queen sized hotel beds. She braced her elbows on her knees and propped her forehead in her hands. "It was … I mean … Well … Look, I'm just gonna grab a shower and get some sleep. It's been a long day and we fly out early tomorrow." Sam began to move around the room gathering her shower things. As she slid her coat off Emily and JJ's eyes got wide. They could both see a hickey blooming on her neck and neither one wanted to be the one to tell her about it.

Sam walked into the bathroom and locked the door. She set her PJ's on the counter before turning the shower on to let it warm up. As she was pinning up her hair she saw it … It was obvious! It was purple! Damn man, she was going to be stuck wearing collared shirts until it faded! "That son of a bitch!" was bitten out loudly.

Emily and JJ looked at each other in the main hotel room. Emily picked up her phone and calmly dialed Derek.

"Morgan." was the brisk answer.

"You are in big trouble." was Emily's snickering reply as she put the phone on speaker.

Morgan chuckled. "Oh, and what did Penelope say I did now?"

JJ chimed in. "Not Penelope. Did you see the love bite you left on our very own Agent Ryan's neck tonight?"

Morgan was stunned. They couldn't be serious. He would never … he had more control than that! Of course, he had spent an hour nuzzling her ear, and kissing her, and nipping her neck and ... Pulling himself harshly out of his thoughts he said "Sure, sure, girls. Now, really, what's up?"

Emily chuckled. "Morgan, we are being serious. She has a hickey on the right side of her neck where her neck meets her shoulder. And judging from the swearing we just heard from the bathroom, she just saw it. You're a dead man walking my friend. We just wanted to warn you. Night." With that, Prentiss promptly hung up the phone.

Morgan pulled his phone away from his ear and stared at it. They had to be pulling his leg. Time to send in a little reconnaissance. "Reid." he almost barked, startling the younger Agent who had been pulling off his mismatched socks.

"What?" was the surprised squeak from Reid.

"I need a favor man. I need you to go to the girl's room and take a look at the right side of Sam's neck. Tell me if there is a hickey there or if JJ and Emily are just pulling my leg."

Reid shook his head as if to clear it. "You want me to go to the girl's room and make small talk so that you can know if they are screwing with your head. Depending on how Sam feels that could be a suicide mission. What's in it for me Morgan?"

"I'll owe you man. Big."

Reid thought about it for a minute. "You'll owe me a cup of coffee every morning for ten days in the office. From that coffee shop I like. Large. Extra shot. Four pumps of hazelnut syrup."

Morgan groaned. That was like forty bucks worth of coffee and he had to take the time to stop and get it. But, he knew that there was no way Sam was gonna let him anywhere near her like this. "Deal. Now get your skinny ass in gear before she has time to dive under the covers. And Reid, turn the flash off on your phone and get me a picture if you can. I want to know that you, JJ, and Emily aren't screwing with me and if it is gonna cost me that much I want to make it worth my while."

Reid finished pulling off his remaining sock and stood up smirking. He grabbed his phone, a case file, and his hotel key. "Back in a few, don't wait up."

Morgan stared at Reid's retreating back as he walked out the door before flopping back onto his bed. 'Damn, what did I do?' he thought to himself. Then he thought more. Absentmindedly he fingered the hair tie still on his wrist. He thought about how good she smelled, the faint hint of magnolia blossoms and jasmine that circled around her. He thought about how silky her hair was and how good it felt to run his fingers through it. He loved the sweet taste of her skin and the fine shiver that would go up her spine every time he hit that spot on her neck. She had felt so good in his arms, tucked against his body so perfectly… "Damn it!" he spit out suddenly realizing he needed to get into a cold shower before Reid came back to the room or he would never hear the end of it. Hurriedly he grabbed his sleeping pants and headed for the shower to put his thoughts on ice.

*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*

Reid was nervous. Sam had almost wiped the floor with Morgan when they sparred. And she was a trained as a sniper. She could probably use him for target practice and only shoot to wound and it would probably hurt … a lot. Feeling his hands get clammy, he knocked on the girls' hotel room door.

Emily opened the door. "I shouldn't be surprised that Morgan didn't believe us, should I?" was the rhetorical question as she let Reid in. "She's still in the shower."

Reid waved awkwardly at JJ as he walked in the room. He paced. He didn't know where to stand. As he heard the water shut off he looked at the girls in a panic.

JJ took pity on him. She helpfully pulled out the desk chair to face the beds and pushed Reid down into it. She took his phone from his hand and replaced it with hers before waving the case file he had been holding in front of him. She walked back to her bed, sat down, and opened it. Emily smirked and grabbed a file off of JJ's stack before flopping down on her own bed and starting the conversation just as the bathroom door opened. "So, what do you think? Obsessional crime?" she deadpanned having not even glanced at the open file in her hands.

Reid knew where this was going. "Maybe," he chimed in. "Really, Morgan would be the expert on that area but he hit the showers as soon as he got to our room so I thought I would bounce it off of you guys."

JJ closed her file and handed it back to Reid watching as Emily did the same. Stopping in front of Reid she handed him his phone back. "Glad we could help. Can you do something for me Spencer? I need to call Henry to read him a bedtime story and he likes it when the whole family is in their PJs at bedtime. Can you snap a quick picture for me so that I can text it to Will before I call?"

'JJ is brilliant!' was Spencer's thought as he pulled up the camera app on his phone. JJ sat on her own bed which was the one closest to the sofa Sam had flopped down on. Spencer obligingly took a picture of JJ before moving the camera slightly to the right and snapping a quick picture of the other agent. As he walked to JJ to hand her the phone back he used his talent at sleight of hand to switch his phone for hers. 'Mission accomplished!' his mind screamed as he shared a smile with JJ. "Well, thank you guys, I want to catch a few hours of sleep. See you in the morning." he said as he headed to the door with Emily.

"Did you get Morgan his proof?" she asked in a low whisper as she opened the door.

Spencer smiled. "Oh, yeah." he whispered back. "Thank you and JJ too." he murmured over his shoulder as he walked out the door and heard Emily shut and deadbolt it behind him. Whistling he headed back down the hall to his room.

As he opened the door he saw Derek walking out of the bathroom. "You owe me. You owe me big. In fact, you might want to send JJ and Emily a cup of coffee each as thanks too because they helped me get your proof." he almost crowed at the older agent pulling out his phone and waggling it above his head.

Morgan was amazed at the antics of the younger man. "Reid, no proof, no coffee. Now hand it over and let me look."

Reid tossed him the phone and Morgan caught it reflexively. He quickly pulled up the picture and groaned. "Damn!" was the blanket statement made by Morgan as he was thankful that his dark complexion hid the blush he felt rising on his cheeks. Sam really was gonna kill him.

*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*

Hotch loosened his tie as Rossi kicked off his shoes and settled down against the headboard of his bed and began to channel surf. "You don't think this will be a problem, do you?" was the question the agent in charge posed to his oldest friend.

Rossi smirked. "Aaron, why would it be a problem? Derek and Samantha are professionals. They both value their team members and their jobs too much to do anything that would ever put anyone in jeopardy."

Hotch let out the breath he had been holding. "What about tonight Dave? Did you see them tonight? Did you read their body language? I'm pretty sure as soon as that excuse for an Agent was gone they forgot anyone else was even in that bar."

"Just pretty sure Aaron? I would bet on it." Rossi countered.

Hotch continued to ponder the situation. While fraternization was discouraged ever since Rossi's younger years, it wasn't outright forbidden. Most people thought it was but he was a lawyer. He had both read and understood the complete set of guidelines for both the BAU and the FBI. They were a government agency and they were smart enough to know that they would face a legal challenge that a precedent would likely be set upon if they tried to outlaw fraternization outright. They made it difficult, but not impossible. They did internally encourage the rumor that Rossi's actions had lead to an outright ban of relations amongst agents. Hotch smirked as he thought about the fact that probably only he, Reid, and Rossi actually knew this fact. And since neither SSA Ryan nor SSA Morgan were in a position of power over one another, they could, technically, be romantically involved as was spelled out in the governing guidelines and agent handbook of the FBI.

Rossi could almost see the wheels spinning in their unit chief's head. "Sleep on it, old friend. You'll see. They are good for each other."

*A.N. - So, we have broken the ice…. There has to be more trouble before a happy ending but there will be one. Promise. Hope you enjoyed. My muse has been inspiring me to write more towards the end of the story rather than Chapter 23 but I will see what I can do to get her to help me out. ~M.M.*


	23. Chapter 23

*A.N. - all standard disclaimers about not owning or profiting from Criminal Minds apply.*

Chapter 23

The next morning in the agents met in the hotel lobby, bags in hand, ready to head back to the jet. Morgan noticed that Sam was wearing a dress shirt and that all of the buttons except the very top one was done up. It did a good job of hiding the hickey that the youngest five agents knew was present on her neck from their unit chief and second in charge.

"Morning Princess." was his casual greeting over the rim of his coffee cup.

Sam shot him a glare that would have wilted most men but Derek just laughed as Hotch finished checking them out. In unison the team picked up their bags and headed to the SUV's. The ride to the airport was brief and soon everyone was occupied as they flew.

Morgan had taken a seat across from Sam on the flight and found himself intermittently stealing glances at her. She, on the other hand, was engrossed in her paperwork and studiously ignoring him. He watched her pull at the collar on her shirt as she again lifted a hand to subconsciously make sure that his mark was still covered. Finally, he decided to end the current of tension he could feel running between them.

He stood and moved across the aisle to take the seat next to hers. Waiting until he had surreptitiously checked the other team members to make sure of their level of distraction, he leaned over to his left. "I am sorry about that Princess. I never meant to cause you any embarrassment. I only wanted to save you from your slime ball ex-partner."

Sam looked up, startled. Morgan took in the look of shock at his words in her green eyes and mentally shook himself. She was gonna be extra jumpy after this.

"Thank you Morgan. I do appreciate that. I am still just trying to figure out how we went from throwing Brett off the hunt to me having to hide a completely inappropriate mark from our boss."

"Yeah," Morgan replied with a sigh, "I am trying to figure that out too." He pulled his headphones up and slumped back into his seat as he pulled out his report.

The rest of the flight was spent on paperwork. The team got back to desks piled with case files, messages, and requests for consults. Sighs abounded as the team sat down to dig in while Reid fired up the coffee pot.

"Greetings my lovelies, lunch time." was announced by Garcia as she breezed into the room looking as though a glitter factory has used her as a test mannequin. Glitter and sequins accented her blouse, her skirt had a glittery pattern, her shoes were reminiscent of Dorothy's ruby slippers, and even her nails sparkled.

"Wow, Pen, ah, hi." was stammered out by JJ as the rest of the team took in her outfit in shock.

Reid came back into the room already sipping on his coffee and seeming unfazed by the electric tech analyst. "Hi Penelope, did you say something about lunch?"

The team turned to look at him in shock. "How can you be so blasé about what Garcia is wearing?" was the query from Rossi. "Are you blind?"

"Garcia always dresses with flair, you should know that by now." was the calm reply from Spencer in between sips of the dark brew.

Emily just shook her head. "So PG, why the extra flair today?" was asked with a raised eyebrow.

Pen just smiled impishly. "You know, just happy. The team is home so that always makes my day. Kevin was extra sweet last night to his Plum Sauce and that never hurts. You know the usual good day stuff." she teased back. "Now, we are ordering chinese for lunch from Mr. Chen's Chinese Emporium. Orders and money people, you need fuel before you can continue your crusade against evil."

The group chuckled and passed around the menu that had been brandished at them. The order was placed and reports and case files were turned in as they waited for delivery. Garcia, dragging a reluctant Hotch behind her, herded them into the lunch room to their waiting lunch before she began to dig through the bags and pass cartons out. "OK, Hotch, General Tso's Chicken, Hot Stuff Kung Pao Shrimp and a side of Beef Egg Rolls, JJ Beef with Broccoli and Wonton Soup, Rossi Happy Family with a side of Shrimp Egg Rolls, Emily Shrimp with Snow Peas, Reid Cashew Chicken, Shrimp with Garlic Sauce, and Fried Dumplings, Sam Moo Shu Chicken and Veggie Spring Rolls, and for yours truly Shrimp and Scallops with Garlic Sauce and Crab Rangoon. Dig in people." she cheerfully added beaming like a benevolent fairy godmother at the head of the lunch table.

"Hey, is there any soy sauce or forks in there?" asked Reid.

Morgan pulled out a few packets of sauce and a plastic fork from the bag and playfully tossed them across the table at Reid making them all chuckle as he tried to catch everything at once and failed.

JJ shot a stern look at Morgan. "Reid, do you want me to show you how to use chopsticks again?" she asked with motherly concern.

Reid shook his head. "Actually, I've decided I'm more efficient with a fork so I'm good." he said without looking up from the carton he was doctoring.

"Seriously, Reid, I don't know where you put it." sighed Emily with envy. "If I ate like you I'd be four hundred pounds."

"Emily, you are far too active to ever be that overweight." Reid replied in a matter of fact manner.

"Thank you" said Emily. "I think that was a compliment."

The team chuckled and continued to enjoy their lunch. As they were cleaning up the break room Penelope had an announcement. "OK people, tonight, 6:30 pm, we are going to O'Malley's to celebrate my lovelies return home."

Emily was the first to protest. "Pen, we just went out last night."

"Yeah, Pen, I haven't seen Henry in days." JJ added.

Penelope had a stern expression on her face. "Be there or face my digital wrath. You have been warned." she calmly ordered before flitting out of the room.

Morgan just chuckled. "Guess we are going out for drinks people. Now let's get done before she has a reason to come looking for us."

The team headed back to their desks. Sam stopped at her desk, holstered her sidearm, and grabbed her keys.

"Princess, I don't know where you think you are sneaking off to, but if Penelope catches you running there will be consequences." warned Morgan from over the top of the open file in his hands.

Sam laughed. "Relax Morgan. I am going to the range. I'm a trained sniper, remember? We feel the need to test fire a few rounds on a regular basis. I finished my reports on the plane and haven't received the faxed case files from the two police departments that wanted consults. So, when I have nothing else to do, I go shooting. It keeps me fresh. I promise I will be at Pen's shindig. Even I'm not brave enough to face an irate Garcia. I'll see you at 6:30."

"Looking forward to it Princess." replied Morgan as he watched her walk away.

*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*CM*

The team gathered on schedule at O'Malley's. Rossi, Hotch, and Morgan were playing darts as the rest of the team sat around a table trading easy banter.

Garcia couldn't hold it in any longer. "So, Agent Ryan, how was your night after dirty dancing with Agent Morgan?" she inquired with a sly smile.

Sam sputtered as she tried to swallow. Garcia had caught her mid-sip. "Fine." she managed to stutter out.

Reid was feeling confident as he peaked at Sam from under the safety of his hair. "You know what fine means, don't you Dr. Ryan?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Enlighten me, Doctor." she shot back.

"Fucked up, insecure, neurotic, and emotional. Which we could have anticipated considering you and Morgan were so close you were almost sharing the same skin. It was a display of very intense foreplay that we were all privy to witnessing."

"Reid?! It was just dancing. That's all." Sam insisted

Reid was feeling on top of his game at the moment so he persisted. "Face it, you don't date, statistically it is improbable that you are a virgin at your age, therefore it is highly unlikely that you are sexually satisfied and highly likely that you greatly enjoyed Morgan's attentions last night, if only on a physiological level." Reid said with a clinical tone.

Sam was astounded that Spencer of all people had brought this up. "Who says I'm unsatisfied? Maybe I have a little battery backup to scratch that itch. A man isn't the only road to satisfaction you know. In fact, most men need a damn GPS in the bedroom." Sam threw out to defend herself.

"Ohhh, better let my Chocolate God know he has competition. And that he'll have to work his magic to change your mind." teased Penelope.

Reid found himself becoming increasing uncomfortable at the turn the conversation had taken. "Um, guys, ahh, can we maybe talk about something else?" pleaded the suddenly shy Spencer.

Penelope giggled at the genius' sudden discomfort and persisted in a conspiratory tone, "You know Reid, most women have vibrators."

Reid blushed. "Statistically speaking, I'm sure that that's not true. Of course, _most_ is a nebulous number that is unquantifiable but…"

"What's wrong with a woman having a vibrator Reid?" challenged Emily. "Men choke the chicken all the time. Sexual release is normal. It's healthy. And a vibrator allows for release while removing the chances of unwanted pregnancy or contraction of disease."

"It's just, it's just…" Reid stammered blushing a deeper shade of red.

JJ chimed in. "Girls, the boy genius is blushing! What's the matter Reid? What thought just crossed that big brain of yours?" she asked with curiosity.

Sam wasn't going the let Reid off so easily after causing her earlier embarrassment. "I don't mean to profile the profiler ladies but I'm willing to bet he just thought of at least one of us using a vibrator." Sam chimed in.

Penelope couldn't let that one go. "Really Spencer? Did you? Such a naughty boy!" she teased with a chuckle.

Reid just continued to flounder. He couldn't articulate he was so embarrassed. Finally Sam felt bad for him and tried to put him at ease. "Really Reid, you are a man, we're women. We were talking about vibrators. You almost wouldn't be human if you didn't think about at least one of us actually using one for at least a nanosecond."

JJ continued unabashed. "You know the best part about a sex toy? They turn on when you want them to and they turn off when you want them to."

Emily continued. "They never complain that you don't take them out and play with them enough. Never complain you love your job more than them."

"And all they ever ask for is the occasional set of fresh batteries." added Penelope almost wistfully.

"And ladies, I'll drink to that." said Sam, raising her glass in a toast as the other ladies joined in.

Morgan and Hotch made it back to the table as the girls all drained their respective glasses. "What did we miss that you ladies are toasting and my man here looks like he wants to crawl into a hole and die?" Morgan asked.

"We were talking about sex toys my sweet and working on rounding out Junior G-man's knowledge of female sexuality." purred Garcia shamelessly.

Rossi made it back to the table just in time to hear the end of that sentence. "Just why have you decided to educate Reid here and now?" he asked with curiosity.

"Reid implied that Sam was sexually frustrated and that that factor would help sway the odds in Morgan's favor when he finally decided to make his move." Emily added almost gleefully.

Morgan felt the need to jump in and divert attention from Sam but a becoming shade of faint pink was blooming over her cheeks and he found that he didn't want to look away. "So Princess, what brought talk of BOB on?"

"Bob?" asked Reid, completely confused now. "We weren't talking about anyone, let alone anyone named Bob."

Hotch and Rossi both rolled their eyes before Rossi took pity on the younger man. "Spencer, BOB stands for Battery Operated Boyfriend. Also know as a vibrator."

"Oh God," Reid squeaked. "They name them?!" and he quickly turned an even deeper shade of crimson.

"Men name their junior selves all the time." JJ added with an eye roll of her own causing the women to giggle and the men to look slightly sheepish.

"Why is that?" asked Sam.

"I don't know." replied Emily drily. "But I dated a Marine once who called his Serge."

"Please tell me he didn't have to give it a pep talk before you got busy. I just had visions of him sitting naked on the edge of the bed talking down to the old one eyed snake like he was a drill sergeant while you laid there and waited for him to get it up." giggled Penelope with JJ and Sam quickly joining in as she finished her sentence.

"And why Big Johnson? Who came up with that?" was JJ's question.

"And we know it's not always big." added Penelope.

"Actually, the reference to the name Johnson…" Reid began before being cut off by Rossi.

"It was rhetorical kid. She wasn't actually looking for an answer."

"What if it is big?" defended Morgan.

"Define big." added Emily. "Cause for years men have been trying to convince us that this" holding her hands about palm's width apart "is eight inches." causing another round of giggles from the girls and another blank look from Reid.

"Emily…" he started before Hotch cut him off.

"Reid, that's the oldest sex joke there is. Emily knows that that isn't actually eight inches."

Penelope giggled at the genius. "And why is eight inches the standard? I mean, we all know it's not about the size but the talent behind it."

"I'll argue that it's not so much about the length as it is the width." Emily chimed in. "But I will agree that all equipment and no talent leads to me not asking you for an encore."

"I'll agree to that." JJ added.

"How did we get into this discussion again?"asked Rossi, feeling the need to deflect scrutiny from his gender, or at least parts of it anyway.

"Reid implied that Sam was sexually frustrated and that should help Morgan's chance of success in wooing our very own Black Widow." added Penelope helpfully. After all, she wanted her Hot Stuff happy and she thought that Sam could do that for him.

"A comic book reference Pen? Really?" was spit out under Sam's breath.

"Now I see where the vibrator talk came from." smirked Rossi. "But, are we implying that Morgan will have competition for the young Samantha's affections from BOB?"

Sam began to turn pink. This was just not a conversation she wanted to have in front of her boss and David Rossi of all people.

Reid was beginning to regain his confidence now that someone else was taking the heat off of him. "Actually, Morgan is going to have to put considerable effort into any physical affections that he eventually gets to give Agent Ryan. I believe her comment was 'most men need a damn GPS in the bedroom' and you can thank my eidetic memory for the exact quote."

"You've been with the wrong men then Princess." added Morgan smoothly.

"Arrogant ass aren't you Derek?" was shot back by Sam.

"In bed I'll let you call me anything you want. But I really don't mind answering to God." he teased.

"Morgan, you suck." was bitten out by Sam in frustration as she walked to the bar to get another drink.

"Yes I do Princess," he called after her, "and I kiss and lick and nip too."

Sam's step paused mid-stride as those delicious images washed over her. Maybe she would need to pick up fresh batteries on her way home tonight.

*A.N. - I had a 2 month case of writer's block. It took a fight with my boyfriend and a conversation with my oldest friend and all the sudden this chapter came pouring out. Finally! After all those days of staring at a blank computer screen. Thank you for staying with me, I appreciate that people keep showing an interest in my little story. ~ M. M.*


	24. Chapter 24

*AN - I have been gone for a long time. I'm sorry about that. Two things happened. First, life got in the way for both myself and my truly awesome and encouraging beta GreyhoundGirl. Secondly, I found out the hard way that some people are just plain nasty. Let me explain. The chapters that I am getting into were tough for me to write and have taken some time. In addition, GreyhoundGirl was a busy, busy lady studying for and taking a specialty nursing certification test that only 1 in 4 people who take every year even pass (we are still waiting on test results but my fingers are crossed for her cause she earned this). As far as some people being nasty, I see it this way. Everyone has a right to their opinion which means I also have a right to mine. If you don't like what I'm writing or the characters I am writing about or how the story is going then don't read it. Nobody is forcing you to read it and instead of getting PM'ed with negative and hateful comments I am just not going to deal with it. I am an adult and I do this because it is a hobby I enjoy. I refuse to answer flaming PM's and hateful reviews will just be deleted. Constructive criticism remains welcome as that is how writers grow and I am going to try and ignore the hate.

All standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Criminal Minds but still wish I did. ~ M.M.*

Chapter 24

A week went by of the entire team waiting with baited breath to see if there was anything more going on between their two agents than met the eye. Every interaction was observed over the edges of file folders. Every exchange at the coffee machine was eavesdropped on. Finally the weekend came. Sam had been given four tickets to a Def Leppard concert by Eric because he couldn't use them. Saturday night was going to be girl's night out.

They met at Penelope's house and drove together. The concert had everyone on their feet. Sam, Pen, JJ, and Emily all laughed and swayed and sang. Feeling flushed and giggling they left the concert to gather at Savour for a late dinner and to introduce the girls to Eric properly.

Gathered around a table the laughter continued as the wine was poured. The chef brought them appetizers and promised that he would be joining them for the main course. Easy banter flowed until plates were brought out and Eric slid into the end of the U shaped booth and poured his own glass of wine.

"OK ladies," he said after they had all oohed and ahhed over their first few bites. "Tell me that our Ms. Samantha here has learned to loosen up and have a little fun. And tell me that those sparks that flew in Vegas have started a slow burn with a certain hunky FBI agent."

Sam blushed and aimed a kick under the table at her best friend. "Eric!" was all that came out in reprisal. She couldn't believe that her private conversation with her best friend about one extremely impressive set of a few hours with Derek Morgan was about to become fodder for more team gossip!

Emily took a sip of wine. "Well, we have been keeping our eyes on them but unfortunately there has been no earth shattering news to report."

Eric mock scowled at Sam over his fork. "How many times do I have to tell you to go out and have a little fun? It is one of the four F's you know."

JJ looked intrigued. "The four F's? What are they?"

Eric chuckled. "The basis of what we need to sustain a happy life. Food, Fun, Friends, and Fucking. Just the important things you know." he said with a confident smirk and a wave of his fork.

"Eric!" was weakly protested by Sam as her best friend just waved her concern and embarrassment off.

The table continued to chuckle around the redhead before Penelope continued to push. "OK, so we all agree that Derek Morgan is the type of man that you can envision licking whipped cream off his abs, but…"

"Do you have these fantasies often PG?" was Sam's instant interruption.

"Smooth your ruffled feathers honey, he is all yours. Let me tell you, Kevin and I have already done the whipped cream and strawberries and it is so totally worth it. Trust me. Besides, you know you want to." the tech kitten teased with a naughty wiggle of her eyebrows.

"Penelope Garcia!" was the outraged cry from the blushing Agent. "Oh my God! I am starting to feel like I am being watched closer than those poor pandas at the National Zoo that are trying to mate in captivity. You all need to get another hobby other than bugging me about my non-existent personal relationship with Derek Morgan."

Emily wasn't about to let this go. "Exactly. It needs to _get_ personal. As in up close and personal. Some of us are living vicariously through you Sam and you are letting us down." she accused with another giggle and a sip of wine.

JJ sighed. "I remember what that feeling was like. The anticipation, the waiting to see someone, the tingle of electricity that flows between you when you are near them. Jump in and enjoy it Sam before it goes away. Even if for some reason it doesn't work out you and Derek are both way too professional to let it bother the team. And if it does work it will be hot. Very hot." JJ let the sentence hang while making a fanning motion with her hand.

"I know. Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot." chimed in a smiling Eric.

While the girls had their fun the guys had gathered at Hotch's for a poker night. They kept it low key when Jack was awake and downstairs watching them play but now that Baby G-man had been tucked in for the night the beer turned to scotch and the topics turned to something a little less child appropriate.

"I don't know how you do it kid." muttered Morgan as he watched Reid pull in yet another pot. "Are you sure that you aren't counting cards?" he accused with a short laugh.

Reid shot a look up through the flyaway hair that kept becoming untucked from behind his ears. "Morgan, it's not my fault I have an eidetic memory. I'm not actively counting but it's not like I can forget either."

Rossi snorted before pulling out a cigar and lighting it. "Either way kid, deal the cards so I can lose more money."

Hotch returned to the table from pouring himself another scotch. "Does anyone else find it mildly pathetic that we have the weekend on stand down, we are all single, and we are sitting here playing poker together? We should be out meeting people and living life like the girls are tonight." he said as he glanced at his cards. Lazily throwing cards down on the table he simply said "Two" and waited for Reid to replace his discards.

"Penelope said they had plans but didn't elaborate. What are they doing?" Morgan asked with curiosity as he studied his own hand and passed on new cards.

"They are going to a Def Leppard concert and then Sam's best friend is treating them to dinner at Savour. Which means that Sean will see them tonight since he took the job as the sous chef there." Reid said matter of factly as he finished replacing discards and began to examine his own cards. "Dealer takes one."

Morgan's felt his hackles rise at this. He remembered Sean's pursuit of Sam and wondered what had ever become of it. She had managed to sweep the speculation neatly under the rug and with their busy schedules it was quickly forgotten about. That is, until it was brought to the front of his mind again.

Rossi chuckled across the table as he watched the play of emotions across Morgan's face. He also didn't miss that everyone but Morgan had already thrown their ante into the pot. Deciding to twist the knife a little he simple said "Morgan, you gonna stare at those cards looking for some deeper meaning or play? Ante up."

Hotch's attention was grabbed by the teasing rebuke and the extra force at which the chips were thrown into the middle of the table. Taking in the scowl on the face of his teammate he shot a patented Hotchner glare at Dave on his right before turning back to his left and the steaming Morgan. "She turned him down." he said without embellishing. "Raise five." came with another sip of scotch.

"Who turned who down?" was the curious reply from Reid across the table.

"I'll see your five." Rossi chimed in "And he means there isn't any hanky panky going on between Sam and Sean. Your turn kid." came with a puff of smoke.

"Hmmm." said Reid as he fingered his chips and glanced briefly around the table. "Interesting. Did she turn Sean down before or after Morgan claimed to be a god in the bedroom?" he said as he absentmindedly tucked the hair behind his ears. "Dealer calls."

"Hey, hey, hey, now. I never claimed to be a god, I just said I would answer to the name." snapped Morgan before he took a strong pull on his beer.

"That is a true statement. However, if we apply societal colloquialisms then one could imply that you are a sex god. That is if the number of women that have been in and out of your bedroom are anything to attest to."

The table laughed as Morgan steamed. He gritted his teeth and stared at his cards and tried to figure out why the teasing felt so personal this time.

Rossi continued. "Seriously, if I was twenty years younger you would have a run for your money champ. Besides being smart as hell and sexy enough to make any man pay attention she is tough as nails and doesn't back down from a challenge. You have to be both blind and half dead not to want her. I can attest to that and I was only undercover with her and keeping things professional. If we had actually been alone and off the job I would have enjoyed far more than just the way she kissed and how good she felt in my arms." was stated before Rossi took another puff on his cigar and turned his eyes to heaven.

"Rossi!" was barked out by Morgan.

Hotch actually cracked a smile and sipped his scotch. "So, let's see. We have classic aggressive posture, quick anger, rapid insertion of subject into situations to protect another individual. What else?"

Morgan shot a glare over to Hotch. "What are you talking about now Agent Hotchner?" was spit out.

Hotch and Rossi just laughed before Hotch continued.

"You Morgan. We are speaking about you and your jealousy when it comes to one certain team member. Admit it, you are jealous."

"I am not! Sam is a grown ass woman who can take care of herself! And as I keep getting reminded she can kill with her bare hands. So why should I be jealous? If she wanted me she would know where to find me."

Reid cocked his head to the side and studied his teammate for a moment. "Derek, she has turned down all other takers. She is standing right in front of you and you aren't seeing it. I see it for God's sake and I am the most socially awkward person at the table! She is waiting for you to ask her out. So, be Derek Morgan and ask her out."

Morgan was gulping down the last of his beer as Reid made his statement and as soon as his brain processed it he breathed in the alcohol instead of swallowing it. Sputtering he took in the looks of the men surrounding him before turning his eyes downward. "I don't know how." was the quiet statement.

"And the truth comes out." was stated by Rossi before taking another puff on the cigar.

Hotch snickered. "The famous Derek Morgan who can talk any woman breathing out of her panties finally admits there is one that scares him. That's good Morgan. That means that you will work hard to be the man she needs you to be. And it means that you will cherish her instead of just using her."

Rossi eyed the younger man over the rim of his scotch glass. "Learn from our mistakes Derek. If you want her, go after her. Prove that you want all of her. Not just her body but her mind and her stubbornness and her temper. You want the whole package; good and bad."

"But…" was all Derek could squeak out before a lost look crossed his face.

"Give up the carefully cultivated image and go after her Derek. That's an order." was the last word from Hotch as Rossi and Reid snickered. "Now, play cards. The kid has all our money."

*A.N. - For those of you that kept finding this story, reviewing this story, and PMing me asking for details or wondering if I was going to keep going with this tale THANK YOU! ~M.M.*


	25. Chapter 25

*A.N. - The scars we have, both inside and outside, are what make us who we are. Here is Sam's past. I will not even answer for my beta how much of this may or may not be my own experiences or may be the experiences of those that are closest to me. This is a work of fiction, not an exclamation of fact so please don't ask. ~ M.M.*

Chapter 25

The next week began and the team noticed a change in the atmosphere. Derek was calm, relaxed, almost Zen-like instead of suave. They noticed him staring at his computer screen with a thoughtful look and they noticed him stealing glances at Sam when she wasn't looking.

The phone on Sam's desk rang. "Ryan" was the brisk answer she gave.

The receptionist at the front desk was on the line. "Agent Ryan, we just issued a visitor's pass to your mother. We thought you would like to know that she is on her way up."

Sam was stunned. "I don't have a mother so that would be impossible. Who did you send up?" was the demanding reply to the poor receptionist.

"I'm sorry Agent. She claimed … I thought…"

"Never mind, we'll go over this later." and with that Sam hung up and stood up unlocking her desk drawer and tucking her Glock into the waistband at the small of her back.

"What's wrong?" asked Morgan sharply, slightly unnerved by the conversation he had overheard as well as the actions his teammate was taking.

"A woman is on her way up here claiming to be my mother. I don't know who or what is about to walk through those elevator doors."

Prentiss, JJ, Reid and Morgan quickly unlocked their sidearms and holstered them on their persons. "Reid, bring Hotch and Rossi up to speed." was the brisk command from Morgan as he moved to stand next to Sam. Prentiss and JJ moved to stand behind and on either side of the pair presenting a united front to whomever was about to walk out. They heard Rossi, Hotch, and Reid move to the railing behind them.

The elevator doors opened and a middle-aged woman walked out, seeming startled by the group of unfriendly agents looking at her. Her gaze settled on the young auburn haired woman and she began to walk towards her.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing here?" was bitten out by a suddenly pale Sam, malice dripping from every word.

"Samantha, I'm your mother. I needed to see you…" the woman began before being cut off.

"You may have been the bitch that gave birth to me but that damn sure doesn't make you my mother." was the agent's retort. The team began to close ranks on Sam, noticing that she had gone from pale to flushed, that her hands were clenched tightly at her sides, and that she was practically vibrating with fury.

"Samantha…"

"Seventeen years! It's been seventeen years since I've seen you. The last day I saw you was at the trial. You were convicted and sent to jail with a ten year sentence. Your parental rights were terminated. You've had plenty of time to say that you were sorry and you haven't even tried. You never tried to take any responsibility for what happened; you never did anything period! You've had time to try and gain my forgiveness, so why bother contacting me now?!"

Morgan placed a hand on Sam's shoulder wondering if he was going to have to physically restrain her from this woman. "Ma'am, if you would state your business with Supervisory Special Agent Ryan we could address it and you could be on your way."

"I came to warn her. Samantha, he's planning on escaping and he's furious with both of us. He sent me this letter." she held out a plain envelope. When Sam made no move to take it, Prentiss strode forward to accept the letter and dropped back to her previous position.

"You've said what you came here to say. Now I think you should leave before I have armed federal agents escort you out." was the toneless reply from Sam.

"Darling, I'm your mother, I'm just trying to protect you." was the woman's plea.

"You are not my mother! A mother would die to protect her child! You threw me to the wolves! You watched and didn't even say a word to stop it and they you just disappeared and let it continue! You are the reason it happened you self-centered bitch! You gave _ME_ to _HIM_ to keep _HIM_ interested in _YOU_!" By now Morgan had his arms wrapped around the shrieking Sam from behind, holding her back from flying across the bullpen and effectively pinning her gun between her back and his front.

Hotch's voice cut across the bullpen. "Ma'am, I appreciate you bringing my agent your warning. Now I think you should leave."

The woman looked at the people surrounding her daughter. Something broke inside of her. In that instant she lost what little hope she had that she would ever be able to be any part of her daughter's life. Samantha had grown up without her and was making her own family of people who obviously cared about her. She turned and walked briskly back to the elevator, unable to stand the condescension of her daughter or the coldness of the rest of the team.

As the elevator doors closed Hotch was the one to break the tension. "Prentiss, I want to see that letter. Ryan, my office, now."

Prentiss walked the letter to Hotch and retreated. Hotch and Rossi silently entered his office to await Sam. Morgan continued to keep his arms around Sam. He leaned over to rest his chin on her shoulder as he whispered in her ear "You OK for me to let go Princess? You're not gonna pass out on me, are you?"

He felt her body suddenly go slack and her hands came up to grip his forearms lightly.

"It's OK now. She isn't here to hit and I don't have line of sight to shoot her." came the monotone reply.

Morgan was worried. She seemed suddenly exhausted and didn't even dispute him calling her Princess. What had this woman done to cause such hatred in her own child? That Sam was her daughter wasn't in question. She may have her dad's hair color and smile, but the expressive eyes, high cheekbones, and stubborn chin all screamed familial resemblance to the woman who had just caused the uproar in the bullpen.

"Let go Morgan, I have to go face the music." came out in a flat voice.

Morgan reluctantly unwound his arms from around his teammate and stepped back from her. He noticed her shoulders were slumped and her chin was down. With slightly shaking hands she pulled her sidearm out from her back and locked it back in the top drawer of her desk before making her way to Hotch's office. She looked like she was walking to her execution. As the office door was closed behind her, the rest of the team settled in to wait and see what the outcome of the discussion would be.

Sam closed the office door with a heavy heart before moving to take a seat in front of Hotch's desk. Rossi held the letter her mother had delivered in his hands and appeared to be re-reading it. She assumed Hotch had been the first to view the contents.

"Agent Ryan," Hotch paused. "Sam, this letter contains a direct threat against you, a federal agent, by one Travis Muscovy who, if the return address is correct, is currently a guest of the prison system of the Commonwealth of Virginia. He also threatens your mother. What's going on Sam? Why would this man do this?" Hotch was firm with his question but somewhat softer in his delivery than he usually would have been. It wasn't sitting well with him that one of his agents was being threatened.

"Sir, this will go better if I can have an hour for Garcia to pull the case file." Sam replied without raising her eyes from the floor.

"Agent Ryan, what is going on?" was asked in the same tone that ordered her mother from the building.

Raising her eyes to meet her superiors Sam flatly stated. "Travis Muscovy is the man who preyed on me with my mother's permission when I was ten years old. At eleven I testified at his trial and he was sentenced to one hundred and twelve years in prison to be served consecutively. He won't be eligible for parole until he had served at least seventy-five of those years. I am the reason that man essentially got a life sentence."

Rossi jumped in. "Sam, have Garcia pull the files. We will meet back here in an hour and go over the details."

Hotch remained silent as Sam rose and exited the room. Rossi let out a deep breath. "Aaron, we need to contact Wallens Ridge and see just how well Mr. Muscovy is being monitored. Then, we need to review the case, speak to prison workers, and build a profile on this man. That letter contains a lot of rage and if he gets out he will do exactly what he says he will do. He will kill Agent Ryan and her mother and until he does he will vent his rage on any innocent person he can get his hands on."

Sam walked directly to Garcia's office, ignoring the concern on the faces of her co-workers. Morgan stood up and took a step towards her but she just hurried her pace, determined to just put her head down and endure. She walked into Garcia's office and shut the door behind her.

"Sweetness, I heard, I'm sorry. What did the woman want? The nerve of some people, thinking they can walk in here and demand things. Well, let me tell you, she isn't going to mess with a member of this family and get away with it. A few clicks of my keyboard and I can make her wish she never existed! Why I can…"

Sam cut Gracia off. "Penelope, I need you to pull a case file for me. Commonwealth of Virginia vs. Travis Muscovy. The trial would have been in 1995. He was tried and convicted of child abuse and sexual assault of a minor among several other things. Pull everything Penelope. Pull every case note, every picture, every everything. And Garcia," she said with a voice that was beginning to break "I need you not to think any less of me when you see it and I need you to not to treat me any differently."

"Why would I treat you differently?" was the concerned question from Garcia. "Was it you? Did he hurt you?" Penelope asked as she reached out to grasp Sam's hand.

Sam held on like Penelope was a lifeline. "Pen, that man is the reason I am an expert on sex crimes. And now the team is going to find out just how damaged I really am. You have an hour to gather everything and then I have to go explain it to Hotch and Rossi."

Penelope didn't know how to respond. Tears were running down Sam's cheeks. The agent who seemed so strong and brash was cracking before her eyes. Pulling her into a hug Penelope whispered, "Just stay here, I'll get everything and then we'll go see Hotch. And cry. My guess is you put on a stiff upper lip and haven't ever taken the time to cry this out. Don't worry, you will always be our Agent Ryan and nothing that we read or see will ever change that. You're family now."

Sam started to sob. The only thing she could think about was that these people wouldn't want her around after they read what was in that file. Sucking in her breath and quieting her sobs she urged the technical analyst to begin to work. "Work your magic Pen, I've only got an hour."

Penelope's usually sunny demeanor continued to sober as the hour wore on. She dug up and copied case notes, court transcripts and pictures compiling it all into one file for the team. She bit her lip so hard it almost bled while pulling up the pictures of a young Sam taken in the hospital after the attack. She had never been good at seeing the horrors of crime scenes, but now, having the victim sit right next to her, having it be one of her BAU family was somehow worse. 'My poor, poor Sam! You went through so much pain.' was all she could think about. Finally, she had everything compiled. Wrapping an arm around Sam she pulled her up. "Let's go see the Bossman, he'll take it from there."

Sam never raised her eyes from the ground as they walked back to Hotch's office. Despite the rule of no inter-team profiling everyone knew something was terribly wrong. Their spitfire Sam seemed beaten down and shame was rolling off of her in waves. The team knew to be patient, that she would open up in her own time and that Penelope was probably the best person for her to be around right now, but that didn't take away the helpless feeling that was shared by the remaining agents.

*A.N. - Are you still with me? This chapter was one of the original ideas that I had for this story. Some of the strongest people I know are those that have gone through the most and who have survived. With enough support, encouragement, and love people can flourish again. ~ M.M.*


	26. Chapter 26

"A.N. - To the many very kind people who have reached out, remembered this story, or said that you are glad I'm back thank you! ~ M.M."

Chapter 26

Penelope was worried. Hotch and Rossi both had their serious faces on as she and Ryan entered the office. She shut the door behind her and took a seat next to Sam. Wordlessly she took out her tablet and sent the file to Hotch and Rossi before nodding to let them know it was sent. A few clicks of a mouse later and the two men were staring at it on Hotch's computer.

Rossi was the first to speak. "Sam, Travis Moscovy escaped from Wallens Ridge State Prison thirty nine hours ago. I think you need to read the letter he sent your mother."

Sam took the letter wordlessly and read it before shuddering and handing it back to Rossi. "What do we do now?" was the toneless question from the young agent. "If you want me to transfer, I will. If you make the recommendation that I resign from the FBI my letter of resignation can be in your hands within the hour."

Hotch took a moment to look at the young woman sitting in front of him. She was willing to face a man who had traumatized her once all alone, without backup, without friends, hell even the right to have her gun always with her if she resigned. "Why would you resign?" was the only question he asked.

"I can't do this to the team. You are the elite agents of the FBI. You catch the evil no one else wants to face. I can't be the reason any of you are distracted. Focusing on my past could cost innocent people their lives."

"Agent Ryan." was the reprimand from Hotch. Sam looked up for the first time since entering the office, obviously surprised by the tone in his voice. "You are right, we are the best the FBI has to offer and as such we don't run from a fight. One of our own has been threatened, as well as another woman and any female that he can get his hands on to hurt until he hurts you. A threat against a federal agent makes this a matter for a federal agency. A threat against one of _my_ agents makes this a personal matter and something that simply will not be tolerated. The BAU is a _family_ Agent Ryan and _you_ have become a member of this family. We are not in the habit of leaving any member of this family behind. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, sir" was the quiet reply.

"Very well, let's brief the team then." Hotch lead the way out of his office followed by Rossi, Ryan and Garcia. "Conference room now." was the firm command as he hit the bullpen. The remaining four agents quickly gathered their things and joined the meeting.

Hotch decided to be as brutally honest with his team as he could. "A threat has been made against Agent Ryan as well as her mother and innocent members of the general public. The man who threatened her, Travis Muscovy, escaped from Wallens Ridge State Prison where he was just beginning to put a dent in his sentence thirty nine hours ago. He is to be considered an active threat. Garcia, bring us up to speed on Mr. Muscovy's past." Hotch sat down and nodded to Garcia to pick up where he left off.

Garcia tapped at her tablet for a moment before swallowing hard and beginning. "Travis Muscovey has a history of petty theft, drug use, and grand theft auto amongst other things. In 1994 Mr. Muscovy was caught assaulting a then ten year old Samantha Ryan. When Military Police were made aware of the situation and intervened they found Sam to be non-responsive and emergency medical responders were summoned. He had had just over twenty four hours to assault her. Sam ended up testifying at the trial which ultimately lead to his conviction and incarceration. Copies of everything from the case have been sent to your tablets." Garcia began to sniffle and dab at her eyes, needing a moment before she went into details.

Sam took a deep breath to steady her nerves before speaking. Despite having gone over this time and time again through the years it still scared her to say it out loud. "I'm sure you all have questions so let me give you the cliff notes version. That woman who was here earlier, Jeanette la Roche, is biologically my mother. She married my father and the bloom quickly fell of the marriage. After their marriage she became pregnant and I was born ten and a half months after their wedding. After my birth she then proceeded to cheat on Dad every time he was deployed. She hated being a Navy wife and she sure as hell wasn't cut out to be a mother, but she didn't want to give up the security of the life that came with it and the freedom to do as she chose whenever Dad wasn't there. Dad didn't want to divorce her and lose custody of me since he was a sea for six to nine months at a time. She was always a party girl. Hell, Dad met her at a party. Problem was she never grew out of it. She liked being a good-time girl and she liked bad boys. I used to wonder how my parents stayed together long enough to ever marry in the first place since my dad is the antithesis of her usual type. By the time I was ten I was pretty much raising myself whenever Dad was on deployment. I would get myself up for school and make my own breakfast because she was usually passed out stone cold drunk. Booze, pills, drugs; I'm not sure there was anything she wasn't doing if it was available. And she was seeing this guy. His name was Travis Muscovy. I guess even then I was becoming a profiler because everything about that man screamed at me to stay as far away from him as possible. Then one day I was playing over at my friend Kelly's house. Mom called and told me to come home. I didn't want to go, but what was I suppose to do? When I got home Mom grabbed me and pulled me into the spare room downstairs where Travis was waiting. She was tipsy as hell, he was drunk enough to be mean, and the place smelled like pot. She threw me at him and told him he could have whatever he wanted. He wanted me to perform fellatio on him. I struggled; he backhanded me. I struggled some more, he hit me again. He eventually got what he wanted. Twenty four hours later when I hadn't shown up to school all day Kelly convinced her parents to call the MP's; that something had to be wrong. She was a sharp kid. She remembered what I had told her about Travis and my mom and was smart enough to know when to break a promise not to tell anyone. Her parents were pretty sharp too and they believed her. MP's came to our house to check on me and when they didn't get an answer they looked in the windows. They saw me, passed out cold and beat to hell and Travis still going after me. That was all the probable cause they needed. The entered the house and pulled him off. I woke up in the hospital with a hairline fracture to the jaw, two broken and four cracked ribs, multiple contusions, lacerations, and abrasions. I had also been raped and sodomized. My paternal grandfather got there as soon as he could and they shipped my dad back from the middle of the Pacific. Travis was held without bail. Once my mother showed up she was arrested as well. Both went to trial and both were convicted. The judge was so appalled by the whole damn thing he sentenced him to a long enough consecutive sentence that I should have never had to testify at his parole hearing; by all rights he should pass away of natural causes long before he gets one. He also terminated my mother's parental rights and made a divorce very easy for my father. This morning, Jeanette got a letter from Travis. Evidently the man who thought he was an alpha in the real world has been turned into his cellmate's plaything in prison. And, he blames this on Jeanette for giving me to him and me for testifying at his trial and getting him convicted. As such, he has threatened us both, as well as any other female he can get his hands on until he can get his hands on me."

The room was so silent they could hear almost hear Sam's heart trying to beat out of her chest.

"Like hell, Princess. There is no way that animal is going to lay another hand on you." was the firm statement from Morgan. The rest of the group just nodded in reply.

Hotch began to delegate tasks. "Reid, Rossi head to Wallens. Talk to everyone you can about Mr. Muscovy. Get to know where the man's head is so we can get ahead of him. JJ, I know you aren't really our Media Liaison anymore, but can you work up a statement and call a press conference? This may get ugly quickly and we need to alert the public to be on the lookout for a predator. For once we know exactly who we are hunting. Emily and Garcia, track down Ms. la Roche and call local LEO's. Bring them up to speed on the situation and get a protection detail for her. Morgan, you are our resident expert on obsessional crimes and have worked with half the agents stationed at Quantico in self defense. You will head the protection detail for Sam. She's not to be left alone. In fact, I would prefer if she didn't go home. I'm going to go bring Strauss up to speed."

The team hurried to their assignments leaving only Sam and Derek sitting at the conference table. "Well, that's it Princess, first we get your protection detail squared away and then we pack a bag for you and you move in with me until the dust settles." was stated calmly.

"What?" Sam all but sputtered finally pulling her gaze up from the floor.

"You heard Hotch, you don't get to live alone right now. Since I am heading your protection detail I will be on duty 24/7. That will be easier to do from my own home. Not to mention, I know my house, my yard, and my neighborhood and have a state-of-the-art security system with a canine backup. Sorry Princess, you are gonna have to get used to me being your shadow and your roomie."

Sam was fuming, allowing anger to puller her out of her apathetic haze. Didn't she get any say? "What about my dog? And where do you think you get off calling me Princess?" was the severely dry comment.

"What do you do with him when we catch a case?" was Morgan's quick reply.

"I am not dumping Warrick on my Uncle Chuck for an open ended period of time. He can come with me or you can bunk with us." was her firm reply.

"Every case we pull is technically an open ended time Sam. And I'm not sure Clooney is gonna like having him for a roommate." Derek was impressed. He was finally getting her to snap back to herself and show that spark that was uniquely Sam.

"Clooney can deal." was her flippant answer.

"All right Princess, pump your brakes. We will have to see if the boys can get along better than their owners in a tight space. Let's get the crew assembled and then we will go pick up your things."


End file.
